[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11480]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   THE CAPITAL GAINS AND DIVIDEND TAX

  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, I wish to speak for a few minutes on the 
motion that relates to the coming increases in capital gains tax and 
dividend tax. Very few Americans are aware and I think even some people 
in the Senate are not aware that in about 6 months, there is going to 
be a tax explosion in this country--taxes on everyone from the 10-
percent bracket all the way up to major corporations. Taxes are going 
up at a time when we know raising taxes will kill jobs in America.
  The Heritage Foundation estimates that if we allow taxes to expire 
this year, the current rate of taxes to expire, and taxes go up in our 
economy, in the first year we could lose 270,000 jobs. This is really 
unacceptable when unemployment is already nearly 10 percent, the 
economy is waning, and we just got a bad housing report. As all of 
these companies plan for their future, they are certainly not going to 
risk capital to expand their companies and add people if they know 
their taxes are going to go up.
  What I proposed as part of this debate on a tax bill is to focus on 
just one area that we know has a lot to do with investment, with growth 
of companies; that is, the capital gains tax and the dividends tax. My 
motion would refer the underlying bill back to committee to add the 
provisions that cap gains tax and dividend taxes will both stay at 15 
percent. If we do not act, in 6 months the capital gains taxes will go 
from 15 to 20 percent and the dividend taxes, which affect a lot of 
senior citizens on fixed incomes, will go from 15 all the way up to 
nearly 40 percent. That makes absolutely no sense in a recession and 
with the joblessness we have across this country. Surely, as a Senate, 
as a Congress, we could recognize that raising taxes on investment--
those who are going to risk their capital--does not make sense when we 
are trying to do everything we can to stimulate the economy.
  We tried it the other way. We tried the government spending approach. 
We all know this government spending plan we call the stimulus, where 
we spent nearly $1 trillion, has failed. The President promised that if 
we rushed that through and got stimulus immediately into the economy, 
over a year ago, that we could keep unemployment below 8 percent and 
put Americans back to work. But since then, we have lost millions of 
real jobs. We have added some government jobs because this is basically 
a government spending plan, but we certainly have not put the real 
economy most Americans depend on back to work.
  We are continuing to lose ground. Yet we stick to this failed 
stimulus plan. Even when we try to pay for extending unemployment 
benefits with unspent stimulus money, my colleagues on the other side 
are holding so tightly to this that they will not even use that money 
to pay for it. Instead, they want to raise taxes and add to our debt--
again, at a time when we really cannot afford this as a nation, when 
all of the so-called economic experts are warning us that this debt we 
have today is unsustainable. But almost every week in this body, the 
Democrats are proposing programs that add to the debt, that increase 
taxes--everything that is counter to improving our economy and adding 
to jobs and helping to build a brighter future in this country. Even 
some of those who were strong supporters of the stimulus bill have come 
out publicly and said: We guessed wrong. I am afraid we should not 
continue to guess.
  One thing we know from history is--if we look back over several 
decades-- when we lower capital gains and dividends we improve the 
economy and we increase job creation in the economy. It makes no sense 
for us to move ahead, sending the signal to all of the investors in 
this country that we are going to punish their investment at a time 
when we need them to step up to the plate.
  I hope my colleagues will consider this. What we are asking is that 
the bill be sent back to the Finance Committee so they can work on ways 
to keep capital gains and dividend taxes the same rather than let them 
explode, along with all of the other taxes that are going to go up in 
the next 6 months.
  I hope we will have a chance to vote on this bill. I understand the 
majority is trying to table this motion. I strongly urge my colleagues 
to take up this matter, to send it back to the Finance Committee where 
they can figure out how to make sure we do not kill more jobs in the 
economy like we have done with the other failed stimulus plan.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call 
be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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