[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 183 (Thursday, December 1, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8080-S8081]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MIDDLE-CLASS TAX CUT

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I come to the floor this morning to urge 
my colleagues to support the middle-class tax cut bill that would 
extend and expand the payroll tax relief for our families and small 
business owners. This legislation is straightforward. It should not be 
controversial. At a time when so many of our hard-working middle-class 
families continue to struggle in this very tough economy, this bill 
would cut their Social Security payroll tax in half, from 6.2 percent 
to 3.1 percent. That means a tax cut for 160 million workers in this 
country today.
  In my home State of Washington it represents a tax cut of around 
$1,700 for a family earning the median income next year. This bill 
would put money into the pockets of small business owners and encourage 
them to hire workers by cutting the employer's side of the payroll tax 
in half as well and eliminating it altogether for firms that are making 
new hires. In Washington State, 150,000 small business owners would 
receive a tax cut under this plan and they would have thousands of 
dollars more in their pockets to spend in their communities and get 
workers back on the job.
  This is a big deal. Economists from across the ideological spectrum 
have said payroll tax cuts create jobs and boost the economy. They have 
said it could be devastating to allow them to go up in this weak 
economy.
  In the past, Republicans have agreed and have strongly supported 
payroll tax cuts as an effective way to boost the economy and create 
jobs, so this should be easy. It should be something both parties can 
get behind and quickly pass, but unfortunately it seems politics are 
getting in the way. I am disappointed that many of the same Republicans 
who spent the last few months fighting tooth and nail to prevent tax 
increases on the richest Americans and biggest corporations are now 
hesitating to give average working families a break. In fact, it was 
this very issue that prevented the Joint Select Committee on Deficit 
Reduction to come to a deal.
  On the Democratic side we put forward serious compromises on the 
table to get to a balanced and bipartisan deal, but our Republican 
counterparts refused to allow the wealthiest Americans to pay a single 
penny more in taxes and insisted that the middle class and seniors and 
most vulnerable Americans bear the burden of this crisis alone. It was 
not fair then; it is not fair now. This bill is fully paid for by 
asking millionaires, who earn more than $1 million a year, to pay a 
little bit more, a small step toward a fair share. It is not drastic. 
It does not close the loopholes and shelters that Republicans have been 
fighting hard to maintain. It does not touch the Bush tax cuts for the 
rich they have been protecting. It doesn't end the tax breaks for the 
oil and gas industry that they would not allow us to close. It simply 
adds a 3.25-percent tax on incomes over $1 million a year. That means 
if someone earns $1.2 million in a single year they only owe an 
additional 3.25 percent on that last $200,000.
  At a time when so many families are struggling, we think this is a 
fair thing to ask the wealthiest Americans, who survived so well, to 
continue to give working families a break.
  This vote sets up a simple choice. Do you vote to extend tax cuts for 
middle-class families and small businesses that have been struggling in 
this economy or do you vote to protect the wealthiest Americans from 
paying 1 penny more toward their fair share? I know where I stand. I 
feel very strongly that we owe it to middle-class families across this 
country to extend this tax cut. I think it would be a whole lot easier 
if our Republican colleagues were as focused on tax cuts for the middle 
class as they are for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and 
corporations.

[[Page S8081]]

  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and extend tax cuts 
for the families who need them most.
  I yield the floor.

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