Date: 2001-03-08
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman from New York for yielding the time to me. The Congressional Black Caucus supports the Democratic alternative to the Bush tax plan. because it really is better. However. the Congressional Black Caucus believes that before we do any tax cut. we do need a budget plan. I just heard the gentleman. a friend. talk about wanting to stimulate jobs. The last administration stimulated 22 million jobs. We are not in a crisis for a tax break. The Democratic plan calls for a $900 billion tax cut that is fiscally responsible and fair to the average American. The Democratic plan contains a new 12 percent bottom bracket that would cut taxes on all individuals up to $300 and to all.couples $600 annually. not just the top 1 percent. The plan contains a married penalty relief for couples who use the standard deduction and for the tax relief for married couples who utilized the earnel income tax credit. Mr. Speaker. the Congressional Black Caucus supports the Democratic alternative to the Bush tax plan. because it is better. However. the Congressional Black Caucus believes that before we do any tax cut we need to have a budget plan. The Democratic plan calls for a $900 billion tax cut that is fiscally responsible and fair to average Americans. The Democratic plan contains: a new 12 percent bottom bracket that would cut taxes on all individuals up to $300 and to all couples up to $600 annually. the plan also contains marriage penalty relief for couples who use the standard deduction and further tax relief to married couples who utilize the earned income tax credit. and the plan includes estate tax relief that would elininate this tax for over twothirds of all estates that are currently subject to this tax. The Democratic plan protects Social Security and Medicare. It reserves onethird of the projected $2.7 billion surplus so that we can meet our obligations to the Baby Boomers when they start to retire in 2008. This Democratic plan leaves enough money for investment priorities that even the administration has said they support. such as improving education and providing a real prescription drug benefit for senior citizens. The Democratic tax cut also lets us pay down the debt rapidly by setting aside onethird of the projected surplus for debt reduction. Every American benefits from this because everyone will at some point want to own a home. or buy a new car. Paying down the debt ensures that interest rates on loans will stay low. meaning lower monthly mortgage and car payments. The slowdown in the economy does require a tax cut to ensure that a full scale recession does not occur. Tax cuts should be fair to the average American family. The Presidents plan is not. The Citizens for Tax Justice organization performed independent analysis that found that the Presidents plan provides an average $46.000 tax cut to the top 1 percent of taxpayers while leaving only an average tax cut of $227 for the lowest 60 percent of working families. The Presidents plan is also fiscally irresponsible. It raids the surplus. threatens Social Security and Medicare. and leaves no room for important investments like education and health care. The Presidents plan threatens economic prosperity by reversing all the progress that was made during the last administration. It will plunge the country back into deficit spending just like President Reagans tax cuts of the 1980s. The Presidents plan even threatens Medicare and Social Security because it leaves no room for error if the economy does not grow as quickly as current projections. � Mr. Speaker. we need a budget plan before voting on any tax cuts. However. the Democratic alternative is the better tax approach.