‘Short-term tax extensions shouldn’t be the occasion for permanent tax increases’
Washington, D.C.— U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Monday calling for bipartisan negotiations to extend tax relief for American families, without raising taxes on others:
“Later on today the Senate will vote on whether to proceed to the House-passed tax extender bill. Republicans support the provisions being extended in this legislation. That’s why I, along with several of my colleagues, introduced an even stronger version of the House bill, one that contains even longer extensions of the expired provisions, provides AMT relief excluded from the House bill, and does both in a form that would avoid a veto — that is, without raising taxes.
“The tax provisions in question are an enormous help to millions of Americans, and a long-term extension would provide the added comfort of predictability into the family budget and the small business balance sheet in the midst of a difficult economic period. Republicans have been firm on this point. Which is why I read with some amusement a letter that was sent to me Friday by my good friend, the Majority Leader, extolling the virtues of the House bill.
“As I said, Republicans fully agree that the expired provisions merit extension. This is not a state secret. Our point of departure, the principle we’ve insisted on, is this: short-term tax extensions shouldn’t be the occasion for permanent tax increases. If new tax policy is being created, that’s one thing. But if current taxes are simply being extended, those extensions shouldn’t be accompanied by new tax increases. To do so would be to transform the annual ritual of extending current law tax relief into a stealth exercise in increasing the size of government.
“Unfortunately, the House Democratic Leadership seems to have dug in, saying it won’t pass an extenders bill without tax hikes. And this brings us to an impasse, for no good reason. First of all, it strikes me as odd that the House Democratic Leadership would single out these particular tax extenders for a fight on offsets. They didn’t need offsets on the stimulus bill earlier this year.
“AMT relief will apparently not require offsets this year. House leaders have signaled that a new GI benefits expansion won’t require offsets. And just last week, the House passed an unemployment insurance expansion bill that didn’t include offsets.
“Now it’s entirely possible that the Democrat Leadership is open to compromise. Recall that during last year’s AMT debate, House Democrats also insisted on offsets. On December 18th, House Democrats were saying they would not consider AMT relief unless it included tax hikes elsewhere. Then, the following day, December 19th, they passed an AMT bill without tax hikes by a 352-64 vote. After all the press releases and letters had been issued, our friends on the other side sat down with Republicans and did something we should do a lot more of around here: they negotiated.
“Notwithstanding the letter I received on Friday from my good friend the Majority Leader, I am hopeful we can do the same thing on this tax extenders bill — sit down together, and come up with a solution that’s acceptable to both sides, and which actually has a chance of becoming law.”
###