[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3364]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  BUSH WANTS TO MAKE TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHY PERMANENT WHILE INCREASING 
                          TAXES ON 30 MILLION

  (Mr. BUTTERFIELD asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BUTTERFIELD. Mr. Speaker, last month during his State of the 
Union message, President Bush said that it is possible to balance the 
budget without raising taxes, but that is not the case. The President's 
health care proposal would increase taxes on more than 30 million 
Americans.
  You didn't hear that during the State of the Union address, but the 
President wants to tax Americans who have what he calls gold-plated 
health coverage. The overwhelming majority of these Americans are 
middle class workers who oftentimes accepted better health care 
coverage over pay increases during negotiations with their employers. 
Many of these workers either need the substantial coverage for 
themselves or a sick family member.
  The President's tax increase proposal is the latest assault on 
employer-provided health care. Employers with older and sicker workers 
pay higher insurance premiums, not because they have gold-plated 
insurance, but because their insurance companies charge them for more 
coverage. At a time when 1 million more Americans are becoming 
uninsured every year, the administration should not provide employers 
another reason to drop their health care coverage for their workers.

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