[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 53 (Thursday, April 15, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H2622-H2627]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         THE PROGRESSIVE CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I'll claim the time for the Progressive 
Caucus tonight. I have some boards that

[[Page H2623]]

are going to assist me in the presentation, so we'll just take a very 
brief moment to get set up here.
  Madam Speaker, my name is Keith Ellison, and I am here yet again on 
behalf of the Progressive Caucus to talk about a progressive message, a 
progressive message, the idea of which, Madam Speaker, is to help 
convey to the American people that there is a body of Members of this 
United States Congress who care about making America fairer, more 
inclusive, greater respect for due process of law, promoting peace 
around the world. There is a Progressive Caucus in the United States 
Congress. Many Members are a part of it, over 80; and we are advocating 
policies that would make America at peace with its neighbors, promoting 
peace around the world, being a force for bringing nations together.
  We here are talking about immigration reform. And I'm joined today by 
one of our very best speakers and a freshman leader here in the 
Congress who has distinguished himself very early on in many areas, Mr. 
Jared Polis, who I'm going to yield to in just a moment.

  But tonight, Madam Speaker, we're going to be talking about taxes 
because today is tax day. We're going to be talking about taxes from a 
progressive point of view. The point is that the United States Congress 
has been doing some tax cutting on behalf of the American people--but 
not from the perspective of the people who've been most blessed among 
us--from the perspective of the hardworking folks who have to put it 
down every day to make it; those folks who can use a small tax cut to 
make sure that they can meet their needs, groceries, things they need 
around the house.
  As a matter of fact, Madam Speaker, you pay fewer taxes under 
President Obama than under President Bush. This may not apply to the 
most wealthy Americans, but it applies to the vast majority of 
Americans. And so it's in this spirit today that we're going to be 
talking about a progressive message as we discuss progressive taxation, 
which are the dues that we pay in a civilized society to make our 
society function properly.
  And so I'd just like to yield to the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. 
Jared Polis, who's joined me tonight. I yield to the gentleman from 
Colorado.
  Mr. POLIS. Well, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota. And people 
know, taxes are relative to one's income. I've heard from many people, 
and of course in this recession people are hurting across the board 
from the wealthy to the poor. And I think even those who pay the 
highest rate of tax, many of them would say, you know, I would gladly 
pay the tax rate we had in the Clinton administration if I had the 
income that we had through the nineties.
  What you pay is relative to how much you earn. Currently, the highest 
marginal rate at 35 percent, with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts 
will return to 39.6 percent. That's the same rate it was when people 
were doing very well during the boom years.
  Taxes are the investment. They're the price that we pay for the 
freedoms that we enjoy in our country. They're what fund our public 
projects and, yes, worthy and unworthy. I, as a taxpayer, wasn't happy 
that my taxes were going to fund the Iraq war, and continue to. But 
that's what our representative system is all about.
  And I know there's many Americans out there today who weren't happy 
that their taxes might go to help provide health care for those who 
can't afford it. But the fact is, it's the price we pay for the 
freedoms that we enjoy as Americans, and we enjoy more freedoms as 
Americans than people anywhere else in the world.
  The noble experiment that was begun by our Founding Fathers over two 
centuries ago has evolved over the years and become something that 
every one of them would be proud of having given birth to.
  We invest in many public projects. You know, in the nature of a 
democracy, each and every citizen, in fact, each and every Member of 
Congress is not likely to agree with every item that's spent. I know I 
don't. I voted ``no'' on some. I know my colleague from Minnesota voted 
``no'' on some. Our colleagues and friends on the other side of the 
aisle voted against some of those. But this is a representative 
democracy.
  We here in Congress, each serving and being elected by our 
constituents, are doing our best to allocate those dollars in a way to 
provide for the common good, the very concept that is conceptualized so 
effectively in our founding documents. That's what we do every day.
  And this being tax time, everybody is reminded of how much they have 
to pay. And I think it's also important for us to remind them how much 
they get, the fact that people all over the world would risk dying, 
going across the desert to try to live in our country, what America 
stands for, globally, in terms of freedom, of unprecedented levels of 
prosperity that our middle-class families enjoy. That's what the 
American Dream is all about. That's what our country is all about.
  And, no, it's not just the government that establishes this dream. 
But what it is is it's the rule of law, and it's a government formed 
among men governing by the consent of the governed to provide for the 
common good. We won't always get it right. But that's the investment 
that we're making when we pay taxes.
  And even though I opposed the Iraq war and didn't like to see my tax 
dollars go there, even though I continue to oppose the escalation of 
troops in Afghanistan, and don't want to see my tax dollars going 
there, I know that the investment I make in paying my taxes is one that 
I can be proud of as an American. Knowing that it goes through title I 
to serve schools across our country that serve at-risk youth; knowing 
that it goes to help make health care more affordable for American 
families; knowing that it goes to help so that people who are 
unemployed don't lose their homes, can still put food on the table for 
their families; to know that our seniors have health care; to know that 
our young people have health care, and we're making it more accessible 
for people in the middle; to know that we're funding our roads, our 
bridges, our infrastructure, our arteries of commerce that empower the 
private sector to produce the prosperity that has made America unique--
that's what it means to pay taxes.
  That's why every year, in April, when I pay mine, I feel that same 
lump in my throat and in my belly as every American; but I know, deep 
inside, that I would not trade it for anything else. And I am proud 
that I have this opportunity to be able to contribute to this greatest 
of the great countries and help America continue to be a beacon unto 
the nations and a light for future generations.
  I thank the gentleman from Minnesota.
  Mr. ELLISON. Well, I thank the gentleman for yielding back. I got a 
little misty there. Listening to the gentleman from Colorado, I think 
he just made an excellent statement about the importance of paying 
taxes in our society.
  None of us wants to fork it over on tax day. We all kind of do it 
feeling like, gee whiz, I wish I could keep this dough. But the fact of 
the matter is that if you like great roads, if you want EMS service, if 
you want the United States military to protect the borders of this 
country, if you want police, if you want fire, if you want public 
schools, if you want Head Start, if you want Medicare, if you want 
TRICARE, if you want Social Security, if you want things like bridges 
and infrastructure and many other important public services, taxes are 
what we have to pay.

  Now, I agree with the gentleman. You know, there are things that my 
tax dollars go to that I wish they didn't go to. But you know what? The 
fact is that we live in a representative democracy, and that's just the 
way it is. That's why we get out and we engage in the public debate to 
argue how and where our tax dollars are allocated. But never forget, 
not even for a moment, that taxes are the dues that we pay to live in a 
civilized society.
  The fact is, though, that Democrats have been, and progressives have 
been, pretty good at cutting taxes for Americans. The fact is, here's a 
quote from somebody who was an adviser to Ronald Reagan. And I know my 
friends in the Republican Caucus love to brag about Ronald Reagan.
  Here's what this gentleman, Mr. Bruce Bartlett, had to say about this

[[Page H2624]]

issue: Federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since 
Obama became President.
  Now, you would think the way they bang on President Obama that he's 
just a tax-and-spend liberal. That's what they like to tell you, but 
it's not true.
  The fact is, taxes targeted to working-class people can help 
stimulate the economy. What we're opposed to from the Progressive 
Caucus is giving tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, which create 
deficits which all the rest of us have to bear.
  But the Obama administration and the Democratic Caucus in Congress 
have helped to lower the burden on Americans so that Americans can take 
care and pay for the things that they need.
  As I said before, here's an important board I'd like to draw folks' 
attention to. You pay fewer taxes under President Obama than under 
President Bush. Note, this may not apply to the wealthiest Americans. 
But if you're working hard every day, if you're putting it down every 
day, if you're working hard for a living and you're part of the great 
middle class, you pay lower taxes than under George W. Bush, and that 
is an important thing to bear in mind.
  Every congressional Republican voted against a tax cut for 95 percent 
of America. Let me say it one more time: every congressional Republican 
voted against a tax cut for 95 percent of American families. So we're 
not talking about who's for tax cuts and who's against them. We're 
talking about who's for tax cuts for the middle class people and who's 
for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
  I just want to be clear: I have friends who have been very blessed 
and have economic wealth, and I think that's just fine. I'm not against 
that at all. But I do say that to whom much is given, much is expected. 
And that goes to taxes as well. And so I'm not in favor of cutting the 
taxes of the wealthiest Americans. I'm in favor of cutting the taxes of 
Americans who are struggling hard every day to put food on the table 
for their family. That's who I think needs the tax cut. And I'm going 
to just tell you one more thing about that.

                              {time}  2045

  When very, very, very, very well-to-do people get a tax cut, they 
don't need the money. It can sit up in an account somewhere. But when 
working-class people get a tax cut, working-class people put that money 
back into the economy. And that means that if they're using their 
little tax cut to go out and purchase an item that they need to help 
their family--whether it's electronic goods or whether it's a new 
washing machine, whatever it is--they're putting that money into the 
economy.
  Let's say they build a new washing machine. Then somebody at some 
local retailer who sells washing machines is going to make a sale. And 
if that sale is made, then they're going to have revenue for their 
retail outlet, which means they're going to be able to keep my nephew 
and yours on the payroll at that particular retail outlet. And then the 
manufacturer may be able to stay in business as well.
  So the fact is that when working people get a tax cut, it actually 
has a stimulative effect for the economy; whereas, if the very well-to-
do get a tax cut, like the Republicans like to do, that really doesn't 
help the economy very much because the very definition of being rich is 
you don't need the money. So you might spend it and you may not. Who 
knows. But working-class people use those tax cuts.
  And so when every congressional Republican voted against a tax cut 
for 95 percent of Americans--as I said, when every congressional 
Republican voted against a tax cut for 95 percent of American families, 
I think the American people ought to know that, because the people who 
claim to be the big tax cutters really are not very good at cutting 
taxes for people who could actually use a tax cut. They're just good at 
cutting taxes for people who really don't need one and who have plenty 
of money anyway.
  So let me just go through a few things.
  Since coming to Congress and assuming the Presidency, the Democratic 
agenda has made historic progress through creating jobs, cutting taxes 
for working Americans, and investing in the future prosperity of our 
country. This year, millions of American working families are paying 
fewer taxes and getting record refunds. This is not a coincidence. This 
is because of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, also known as 
the stimulus bill, but quite separate from the bailout which happened 
under George Bush's watch.
  Over one-third of the Recovery Act is tax cuts for the middle class. 
Very important. Over one-third of the Recovery Act is tax cuts for the 
middle class. The Recovery Act has already provided about $160 billion 
in tax cuts to American families and businesses. Nearly $100 billion, 
nearly 100 billion, nearly $100 billion of that has gone directly into 
the pockets of working families. And this year's average refund is 
about $3,000, about a 10 percent increase over last year. That's a good 
thing for families who need money to keep on moving.
  Federal taxes--as I just read a moment ago, a former Republican 
adviser to President Ronald Reagan said, Federal taxes are very 
considerably lower by every measure since Obama became President, and 
yet the Republican caucus bangs on President Obama relentlessly, 
mercilessly all the time. But the fact is he is better at lowering 
taxes for working-class people than George Bush was. This is by their 
own expert Bruce Bartlett. I wonder how they're going to try to 
misrepresent that.
  Since last year, this Democratic Congress and President Obama have 
enacted more than $800 billion for working families and small 
businesses. The Making Work Pay tax cut. That gives 95 percent of 
working families an immediate and sustained tax relief. Now, that's a 
big deal. Making Work Pay.
  The fact is, the well-to-do in our country, they get tax cuts all the 
time. But what about people who are working hard every day? This tax 
cut where 95 percent of American working families got immediate and 
sustained tax relief was an important thing. It was about $400 for the 
individual, $800 for joint filings. That is very important.
  Here's another tax credit. Child tax credit cuts taxes for families 
and more than 16 million children by reducing the minimum amount of 
earned income used to calculate the tax credit from $3,000 to about 
$12,000.
  The earned income tax credit. Very important antipoverty program. 
Earned income tax credit expands the credit increasing it for families 
with three or more children. This is also very important. The earned 
income tax credit, an active, antipoverty program which helps working 
people and even low-income people. It's a good thing.
  The American opportunity tax credit. Up to $2,500 in tax credits to 
help an additional 4 million students attend college. Now, the 
university doors and the college doors have to stay open to the 
American middle class and the poor, but if you allow the other caucus, 
the Republican caucus to stay in charge, those doors are slowly going 
to be shut. But under the Democratic majority and under the progressive 
leadership of President Obama, we've seen the American opportunity tax 
credit, up to $2,500 in tax credit, to help an additional 4 million 
students attend college. This is a progressive thing. It's a good thing 
brought to you by the Democrats.
  The alternative minimum tax relief. Now, this protects 26 million 
middle class Americans from being hit by the AMT. In the 1970s, Members 
of Congress said, You know what? There are some people, some folks who 
aren't paying any taxes at all, so we're going to have something called 
the alternative minimum tax to make sure everybody pays something. But 
because it wasn't indexed over the years, inflation made it so that 
people who were in the middle class were getting hit by this tax. The 
Democrats, under the leadership of President Obama and Nancy Pelosi, 
helped to protect 26 million middle class Americans being hit by the 
AMT. Very, very important.
  First-time home buyer tax credit increases existing credit to $8,000 
and removes the repayment requirement.
  All totaled, the Democratic-led 111th Congress has enacted more than 
$800 billion in tax credits with another $285 billion making their way 
through Congress, such as permanent estate tax relief and R&D tax 
credits to spur business innovation. Many of these tax cuts are 
immediate, and more than half of the Recovery Act tax cuts already

[[Page H2625]]

are in the hands of the American families and businesses. And $40 
billion of the tax credits, or 4 million small businesses offering 
health care coverage to their employees starting this year. That's an 
immediate benefit for small businesses who want to offer health care to 
their employees to get a tax credit, a big deal to help people get 
health care and to help small businesses in the same swing.

  So the fact is the Recovery Act, it takes 25 tax cuts for Americans, 
including the fastest and one of the most widely shared tax cuts in 
American history, the Making Work Pay tax cut credit or tax cut. 
Ninety-five percent of Americans benefited from it. Not one Republican 
voted for it. Think about that when you think about who is looking out 
for the American people and trying to cut taxes, even though we started 
this session tonight talking about the importance of taxes and the fact 
that some taxes are necessary. And we don't run from that idea.
  The fact is taxes are the dues you pay to live in a civilized 
society. But despite that, the Democrats, under the leadership of 
President Obama and Speaker Pelosi, have been cutting taxes. This is an 
important thing for people to bear in mind and think about as they go 
forward, particularly on this Tax Day, particularly as they think about 
their refund. Who helped you get that, Madam Speaker? It was the party 
in the majority.
  The Recovery Act also gives a tax cut by making your home more 
efficient, buying a house, buying a car, and sending a child to 
college; all very important. The result of the Recovery Act is that tax 
refunds are already up 10 percent, pushing average refunds to a record 
$3,000 per taxpayer. That is huge.
  So Congress has enacted job-creating tax incentives to spur hiring 
out-of-work Americans, strengthening small businesses with tax credits 
and accelerated write-offs so they can expand more and hire more.
  One of the taxes is the business incentive to create jobs; 10 billion 
over 10 years. It involves a lot things which I'm going to talk about 
in a moment, but the main thing is that we need to understand that 
while taxes are the dues that we pay to live in a civilized society, 
the people who represent the majority in this Congress are actively 
trying to reduce that burden so that Americans can have a little extra 
money in their pockets, not so much the well-to-do people who already 
have enough.
  The fact is folks who are working so hard every day to put food on 
the table, maybe the washing machine broke, they've got to get a new 
one, these things are going to help their families out quite a bit.
  And I really admire those families who are well to do and who may not 
have been among those 95 percent who got a tax cut. Many of them know, 
however, that their good fortune is because of the public and the taxes 
people before them have paid: the people who pay the taxes for roads 
and bridges; the people who pay the taxes for our universities and 
colleges; the people who pay for Head Start, Social Security; people 
who pay for fire and roads, firefighters, police officers, to make our 
society a good place to live. These folks understand that, and so they 
don't complain about paying taxes. They pay them because they know that 
it's what we need to have a society that is free from foreign 
aggression, that our streets are safe, that there are firefighters out 
there looking out for Americans. And if they should have a problem with 
a fire in their home or business, we understand.
  So this is not a matter of dividing well-to-do Americans from the 
rest of us. It's a matter of saying, Look. Middle class folks need a 
tax cut too, and the well-to-do have gotten well cared for while the 
Republicans have been in charge, and many of the policies that they 
enacted have brought us this recession that we're just trying to emerge 
from now. But the fact is, if you invest in the middle class through 
tax cuts, it will pay dividends in the long run.
  And we're already starting to see unemployment decrease. Won't be 
long before we have positive job growth because of these important tax 
relief policies that Democrats, led by President Obama and Nancy 
Pelosi, have led to enact.
  So, let me move on and talk a little bit about my own State of 
Minnesota. It's a State where people work hard every day. We're a State 
where we're very proud. We have among the highest voter turnout in the 
entire country. I'm proud to announce that only one State has a greater 
response to the census than our great State of Minnesota, and those are 
our neighbors to the east, Wisconsin. We're coming to get you, 
Wisconsin. We want to be first in that.
  But the fact is I'm so proud to be from the State of Minnesota. It's 
a wonderful place, and there is no prettier place than Minnesota, 
especially in the springtime.
  But I want to talk about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act 
which significantly cut taxes for Minnesota families, too. Two million 
families in Minnesota. That is the number of families in Minnesota that 
will receive a tax cut of up to $400 or $800 for a married joint filing 
couple under the Making Work Pay tax credit that is included in the 
Recovery Act.
  Also, 895,000 individuals are the number of people in Minnesota 
living on Social Security and supplemental security income and railroad 
retirement income and veterans benefits who will receive a one-time 
recovery payment of $250 under the Recovery Act.
  And then, also, 157,000 families in Minnesota are the folks who 
benefited from the Federal tax credits for college expenses. Minnesota 
is a high education State. We have some of the highest ACT scores in 
the Nation, and we take education very seriously in the State of 
Minnesota. So it's really a great benefit that so many families will be 
able to benefit from the Federal tax credits for college expenses.
  So in 2009 and in 2010, families in Minnesota with children in 
college will be able to claim a larger Federal tax credit, and that's a 
good thing for even me and my family since I've got two kids in college 
right now. And you know how tough that can be. There are more than 
41,000 students in Minnesota, 41,000 students in Minnesota who 
previously did not benefit from the college tax credit but will now 
benefit as a result of the Recovery Act. That's a lot of people. A lot 
of young people saying, You know what? I have enhanced my skill, 
developed my mind, and can contribute to this society of ours in a 
greater way because Democrats believe in reducing and offering tax 
credits for me to be able to do what I've got to do.

                              {time}  2100

  For 182,000 children in Minnesota, that's the number of children in 
Minnesota who will benefit from the expanded child tax credit that's 
included in the Recovery Act.
  And, of course, children need a tax relief, too, because that's where 
their parents can afford to get them the things they need, whether they 
be clothes or school supplies or food or anything like that. Children 
need their families to have less to have to pay if, as long as it's 
responsible, as long as it's paid for, as long as it makes sense, it's 
a good thing.
  Again, I don't want to go too far. Because the fact is, folks, while 
I believe in cutting taxes for people, I also just want to remind folks 
taxes are the dues that we pay to live in a civilized society. Taxes 
pay to keep our roads nice and taxes pay to fill up the potholes in 
places like Minnesota where we have come through a large, tough, 
winter.
  Taxes pay for police officers, taxes pay for firefighters, taxes pay 
for public works employees, taxes pay our soldiers so that they can 
defend our country, and taxes go to pay for Head Start to educate our 
children at university and at the middle, K-12 level.
  So I am not here to say taxes are bad. That's a Republican thing to 
say that taxes are evil or that taxes are a punishment or that they are 
punitive. I don't believe that at all. I don't believe that for a 
second.
  But I do say that when we can responsibly cut taxes to the middle 
class, we should do so. We should do so. That's just common sense, and 
the Democrats have proven that we believe that because we did it. And 
the fact is we didn't get any Republican support to do that. Because, 
as I just want to remind you for those of you who maybe just tuned in, 
every congressional Republican voted against a tax cut for 95 percent 
of Americans. I don't how they

[[Page H2626]]

can stand up and call themselves looking out for the American middle 
class with a straight face, but I am sure they will manage somehow.
  Let me also talk a little bit more about Minnesota businesses. 
Because, of course, in Minnesota we believe in entrepreneurship. We 
believe that people should allow their creative talents to bring their 
services and goods to the market so that other people can participate 
in those and enjoy those things for a fair price and, therefore, those 
businesses can hire people, and we can really have our economy working 
well.
  So I just want to mention, you know, that the Recovery Act 
significantly cut taxes for businesses as well, about 385,000 sole 
proprietors, 385,000 sole proprietors in Minnesota that filed with the 
IRS in 2007. Well, the fact is the Recovery Act provided relief for 
those businesses by providing, one, tax breaks for small businesses, 
expensing and bonus appreciation, businesses that purchased new capital 
equipment, providing small businesses with temporary, 5-year net 
operating loss, carryback, and providing small businesses with 
estimated tax payment relief, and excluding 75 percent of the gains on 
small business stock from capital gains purchased in 2009 and 2010 and, 
finally, providing businesses with relief from paying taxes on income 
resulting from discharged debt.
  Minnesota businesses, again, about $1.1 billion, about $1.1 billion 
is the amount of additional dollars in the hands of consumers in the 
State of Minnesota as a result of Making Work Pay. That means that if 
you take that tax cut that 95 percent of all Americans benefited from 
and you bring it right to the great State of Minnesota and you ask 
yourself, well, how much did that mean to the Minnesota economy, that's 
$1.1 billion that our families have to be able to spend on their needs 
so that they can make their ends meet, and they can put that money into 
the economy to help bolster the sales for our businesses that are out 
there.
  Moving right along, about 538 units, about 538 units, housing units, 
are being constructed in Minnesota under a low-income housing tax 
credits exchange program that was enacted as part of the Recovery Act. 
That's a lot of houses, a lot of places for people to live, and that's 
a very, very big deal.
  So I just want to say that I think that Democrats who responsibly cut 
taxes on the middle class, not the irresponsible tax cuts for the well-
to-do who don't even need a tax cut, but Democrats responsibly cutting 
taxes for the middle class are helping America get stronger and get 
better after an 8-year nightmare where they cut taxes for the richest 
people, didn't enforce the financial regulation, allowed Wall Street to 
run wild, and allowed predatory mortgage lending to take place. Now we 
pay the awful price for that, but it's a good thing because Democrats 
to the rescue are making sure that this economy is coming back strong, 
in part by responsible tax cuts to the middle class, and I am proud of 
that.
  Let me move on to just talk a little bit about, just pose a question 
to people who may be listening, Mr. Speaker, and the question is, are 
you better off on Tax Day? There is a group called Third Way that 
prepares a report and asks the question, are you better off on Tax Day? 
And here are a few things that they found, Mr. Speaker, that I would 
just like to share with you.
  Third Way compares three average middle-class families' tax returns 
from the 2007 to the 2009 returns under President Obama. They posed a 
question, is the average middle-class American better off under Obama's 
tax policies or under Bush? They compare the differences between tax 
credits offered by the Bush administration and the Republican Congress 
to those offered by Obama and the Democratic Congress. And in every 
case the answer was, without question, yes, Americans are better off 
with President Obama in the White House and Democrats in Congress.
  This Third Way report, which I hope people will take a look at, says 
definitively on many measures that Americans are simply better off. 
Democrats are just better at managing the economy. We are better when 
it comes to deficits, better when it comes to tax cuts, better when it 
comes to jobs, better, better, better.
  Of course, if you are a very super rich person, you may have to pay 
some taxes that you didn't have to pay before. But the fact is you have 
better services for it, and you have the pride of knowing that you are 
making a contribution to your fellow Americans, improving the quality 
of life for everybody, not just yourself. I think that means a huge 
deal for people. Because I think Americans, even well-to-do Americans, 
are extremely patriotic and want to know that their fellow Americans 
are doing well and that the ladder of opportunity has not been pulled 
up, as Republicans always try to do, but that it's still there for 
Americans who want to work hard and climb that ladder from the poor or 
even the middle class up to a higher income level.

  So I just also want to talk about some results from the tax justice 
report on the Obama tax cuts. This Citizens for Tax Justice report says 
the following. The analysis notes that 53 percent of Americans believe 
that the President has kept taxes the same, 24 percent believe the 
President has raised taxes, and only 12 believe the President has cut 
taxes. But the fact is he has cut taxes overwhelmingly. This was part 
of the spin machine that we hear all the time and we are trying to 
correct tonight.
  But by the analysis of the Citizens for Tax Justice, tax cuts enacted 
by Obama and the Democratic Congress reduced the Federal income taxes 
for the tax year 2009 for, actually, they find, 98 percent of all 
working families. I just said 95, but according to this think tank it's 
even higher than that.
  The Citizens for Tax Justice also observe one reason why the broader 
American public may not realize that the President cut their 2009 taxes 
is that the tax cut that affected most people took effect gradually by 
reducing withholding on wages. So you see a little more in your 
paycheck every week, but it's still there, still there for you to be 
better off and do what you need to do for your family.
  They also note, well, I would also add that the spin machine doesn't 
help. But the fact is, it's there. The folks have it.
  This Center for Tax Justice also says that, in addition to massive 
middle-class tax cuts, the Recovery Act made direct cash payments to a 
large population of Americans, including Social Security recipients, 
and extended unemployment benefits to out-of-work Americans.
  And, so, this report, which I am going to hold up so people can see, 
this is kind of small type, but I just hope folks can look at that, 
see, right there, it says President Obama cut taxes for 98 percent of 
working families in 2009. Mr. Speaker, I think that's pretty good. I 
think that that's all right, and I think that's something to be 
commended, something to be proud of.
  Mr. Speaker, as I just want to keep saying, you know, as I am 
standing up here talking about cutting taxes, I don't want any of the 
folks who might be tuned in tonight to get the impression that I am 
against taxes. I am in favor of paying the dues that we must pay in 
order to have a civilized society. I don't want people to pay more than 
they should pay, and I certainly do want every dollar to be used 
responsibly.
  I am totally against any kind of wasteful spending or boondoggles, 
and I am absolutely against the spending that we did to fight the Iraq 
war, which was offered to us by President Bush and the Republicans. 
They told us it was weapons of mass destruction and everything else, 
and none of that was true. That was an enormous expense on the American 
people, not to mention loss of life, both Americans and Iraqis.
  But the fact is is that I don't like every expenditure that the 
government makes, but the fact is that in a democratic society we have 
the majority rules. We elect the President and trust that those 
decisions will be made responsibly. They are not always done that way, 
but I wouldn't change this system for any system in the world.
  The fact is, Mr. Speaker, tonight we are talking about taxes. Tonight 
is, today is Tax Day. Many Americans are probably still rushing out to 
the mailbox to make sure that that tax filing gets into the mailbox and 
gets stamped tonight so that they can get their taxes in on time, and 
maybe the ones who are the early birds have already done that a long 
time ago and taken care of

[[Page H2627]]

that business. But the bottom line is, Mr. Speaker, that today, Tax 
Day, is a big deal in America.
  It's the day that we can stop and think about how lucky, how we have 
benefited by being in this great country of ours, where we have a great 
Constitution that protects our liberties. We have great public 
employees who work hard every day to make sure Americans have good 
services, teachers, firefighters, police officers, people who work in 
Head Start every day to try to help the children, people who really get 
out there and give all they have to help Americans.
  It's a great day to just think about how lucky we are as Americans to 
have the Medicare system to help our seniors, TRICARE to help our 
soldiers, and now we are going to have over 32 million Americans get 
health care under the newly passed health care bill. These things, our 
taxes go to these things, and I am proud that they do.

  It means that we live in a society that has compassion, it means we 
have a society that is responsible, that is going to meet the needs of 
all Americans, and it means that it is going to be done in a 
responsible way. Not the way the Republican caucus has done in the 
past, which is just cuts taxes for the wealthiest Americans and then 
creates massive deficits, but in a responsible way that's paid for and 
that broad cross-sections of Americans benefit from.
  This is the kind of tax cut that we need. This is the kind of help 
that we need. Not the Bush-type tax cuts but Obama tax cuts, which go 
to benefit large percentages of Americans.
  Every congressional Republican voted against a tax cut for 95 percent 
of American families, Mr. Speaker. These 95 percent of Americans, I 
betcha they are going to be remembering that come November.
  Anyway, the fact is that this is a very important day. This is Tax 
Day. This is the day that we think about our investment in our country. 
This is the day that we say, you know what? Not everything the 
government spends money on I agree with, but I am happy that I am in 
America and can benefit from living in this great country.
  Being an American is not free. If you have the income to help pay the 
dues, to pay the costs of this society, you should help. There is 
nothing wrong with it. It's not a punishment. Some of our Republican 
caucus friends will say it's a punishment or taxes are evil or they are 
bad or something like that. They shouldn't be higher than they are 
supposed to be, but they ought to be high enough to pay for the needs 
of the government so we don't have massive deficits.

                              {time}  2115

  And yet they have created these massive deficits that Democrats are 
trying to dig us out of right now.
  So let me just say, as I begin to wind down--and just signaling to my 
Republican Caucus folks that if they're going to take the rest of the 
time, it might be a good time to think about getting up--the fact is 
that under Democratic leadership we passed a bill that would promote 
hiring incentives. We passed health care legislation that would promote 
health care and small businesses to be getting a tax credit in order to 
cover Americans to offer them health care. We have offered tax cuts to 
95 percent of Americans.
  Democrats believe in middle class tax cuts that are responsible and 
paid for. Democrats believe that it is progressive to put money in the 
hands of Americans when it doesn't explode deficits and when it does 
help spur demand and when it does help Americans meet their daily 
expenses. We're not in favor of huge tax cuts for people who don't 
really need them--and didn't even ask for them--but we are in favor of 
responsible tax cuts to middle class Americans.
  So on tax day, I joined with you just the other day this weekend in 
signing my tax form. I owed this year, but as I said goodbye to my 
money, I knew that if it was going to take care of a kid who needed a 
meal or give a young soldier the equipment they need in defending our 
country or to help this country do better and be more effective, well, 
I'm willing to do that because I think it's my duty as an American to 
do so.
  So with that, I yield back and thank the Speaker for the time.

                          ____________________