[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18299]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1220
                 DEFINING CHOICES FOR THE MIDDLE CLASS

  (Mr. BRALEY of Iowa asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BRALEY of Iowa. Madam Speaker, as the American middle class 
continues to endure tough economic challenges, the deadline looms for 
extending middle class tax cuts that will provide continued relief when 
it is needed the most.
  Standing in our way are Republicans who are holding the middle class 
hostage in favor of giving added tax breaks to millionaires and 
billionaires, even though these bonus tax breaks would add $700 billion 
to the national deficit.
  So what is at stake? These middle class tax cuts will provide 98 
percent of Americans who face a tax increase on January 1 the much 
needed relief that they deserve. For the typical middle class family, 
that means the loss of $2,000 next year. The Republican demands would 
mean that those making more than $1 million a year would receive an 
average of $100,000 annually, and the middle class would be saddled 
with $700 billion in new debt to pay for multimillion-dollar tax cuts 
for billionaires. In tough times like these, millionaires should be 
giving charity, not getting it, and that is the choice that the 
American people should be demanding that we make.

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