[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 161 (Wednesday, December 8, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S8634]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             TAX COMPROMISE

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I was glad I had a chance to hear the 
Senators from Colorado and Oklahoma. I congratulate the Senator from 
Colorado on his reelection and look forward to working with him. He 
mentioned the importance of working across party lines. One area where 
we have the chance to do that, and where he can make an especially 
significant contribution, is in the area of fixing No Child Left 
Behind, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. He has a lot of 
experience, earned the hard way on the ground, in that area. He is on 
the relevant committees, and I look forward to working with him.
  Second, I join the Senator from Colorado in support for the tax plan 
agreed upon by the President and the Democratic and Republican leaders.
  I have noticed that over the last two days, a large number of the 
news stories are about who wins and who gets political points for this 
tax agreement. I think the story is: the American people win. The focus 
of this Congress should be how to make it easier and cheaper to create 
private sector jobs. Virtually every economist who has come before us, 
either called by Democratic Senators or Republican Senators, has said 
raising taxes on anybody in the middle of an economic downturn makes it 
harder to create private sector jobs.
  This tax agreement, which would stop the automatic increase of taxes 
for tens of millions of Americans, makes it easier and cheaper to 
create private sector jobs. So does the provision to provide 100 
percent expensing for businesses. What that means is, companies that 
buy equipment in the next year can immediately deduct those costs. 
There is also a provision giving working people in this country during 
the next year a reduction by about one-third in what they pay on the 
payroll tax. That will mean these workers have more money in their 
pockets and perhaps they will spend it and perhaps that will help the 
economy grow as well.
  In addition, there is the provision to give some certainty to the 
estate tax. Some want zero tax, some want 100 percent tax. But this 
comes to a common, reasonable decision for 2 years. No one on the 
Republican side of the aisle is completely happy with this agreement. 
We want the tax rates permanently extended where they are today or at 
least to not let them get higher. We believe that short-term decisions 
about taxes don't create the kind of certainty that does the best job 
of helping to create private sector jobs.
  We welcome the fact that the President of the United States has 
accepted this as a part of an agreement, and at the same time, he has 
gotten the priority that he put a high goal on, which was the extension 
of unemployment compensation. Republicans don't like to see that passed 
in a way that adds to the debt. So we have some Democrats who don't 
like everything in the bill and also some Republicans who don't.
  We have something we have not seen very much of for the last two 
years. Instead of ``we won the election, so we will write the bill,'' 
we have a different attitude: Let's sit down and talk and see what we 
can do for the good of the country. I think this will not only result 
in the tax bill being passed, I think it will result in it being 
accepted by the people of this country. I think it will help build 
confidence in our economic growth. I think it will help build 
confidence in the ability of our government to function and deal with 
big problems.
  I congratulate the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate 
and the House and the President for bringing the agreement this far. We 
have a ways to go; it is not decided yet. But it is a good step in the 
right direction. Instead of scoring political points, for a change, I 
think we are trying to score some points for the American people. When 
they get their paychecks in the middle of January and see the lower 
withholding and when they find out the amount of taxes they are not 
going to have to pay in a tax increase, I think they are going to be 
grateful.
  Today, I was thinking that a Tennessee small businessperson looking 
at next year might say: Well, they are not going to raise my taxes and 
take the money my company earned and give it to the government. Maybe I 
will spend some of that money to hire somebody or spend some of that 
money for new equipment since they will let me deduct those costs. 
Maybe I will go ahead and do that this year instead of over the next 2, 
3, 4, or 5 years. Maybe that will help my business grow, and maybe I 
will hire somebody new.

  Maybe it will say to the people who work at that company: I am going 
to have a little more money in my pocket, I will go out and spend it, 
and maybe I will buy some of the goods made in other small businesses 
and the economy will grow.
  There is no doubt this adds to the deficit, but there are two ways to 
reduce the deficit. One is to reduce spending, which we must do. We 
have an opportunity to deal with that, as the Senator from Oklahoma 
talked about. The other way is to create new revenues, and the way you 
do that is economic growth.
  This bill will help make it easier and cheaper to create private 
sector jobs. That is economic growth. That helps reduce the deficit.
  I congratulate Senator Coburn, who spoke before the Senator from 
Colorado. Senator Coburn, Senator Crapo, Senator Gregg, Senator Conrad, 
and Senator Durbin, the majority whip, all voted for the debt 
commission report. That was a courageous act on behalf of all five of 
them. It is one thing to go around the country saying we need to reduce 
the debt; it is another thing to take on a wide-ranging proposal that 
actually does that because it is very painful. You can't just say we 
are going to get rid of earmarks, which don't save a penny. You can't 
just say we are going to focus on discretionary spending, other than 
that which affects defense, which is 15 percent of the budget. You have 
to deal with things such as national defense and Social Security, and 
you have to deal with Medicare and Medicaid.
  It is true the debt commission report didn't do as much on 
entitlements as I would like it to do. I am proud of the members of the 
commission. They have given us a serious proposal and I intend to take 
it seriously. I intend to do my best to support as many of its 
provisions as possible, so we can take a step forward, not just in 
creating private sector jobs but in attacking our other major goal, 
which is reducing spending so we can reduce the debt.

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