2010 Ron Paul 62:1
Mr. PAUL.
Mr. Chair, I recently voted again
in favor of H.R. 4853, the Middle Class Tax
Relief Act, legislation which ensures the continuation
of the Bush-era tax cuts, fixes the
AMT patch, and significantly reduces the burden
of the estate tax in 2011. If no action had
been taken by this Congress, all Americans
would have had to pay higher income, dividend,
estate, and capital gains taxes beginning
on January 1, 2011. I will always vote to
lower taxes at all levels, and I will never vote
for tax increases.
2010 Ron Paul 62:2
Many opponents of this bill labor under the
mistaken impression that it contains huge
amounts of pork, earmarks, and other spending.
What they are referring to is hundreds of
billions of dollars worth of tax credits. Tax
credits are not spending, they are not earmarks,
they are not pork: they merely allow
people to keep more of their own money.
While the Administrationís desire in extending
these particular credits may be to placate certain
constituencies or to spur consumption or
investment into certain sectors of the economy,
the morally correct position is to allow
people to keep their hard-earned money. That
money belongs to the people and businesses
who earned it, not to the government. If one
wants to make it more equitable, then the
amount of tax credits should be increased to
include everyone.
2010 Ron Paul 62:3
Characterizing the tax cuts as fiscally irresponsible,
as other opponents of the bill have
done, is equally misguided. Those who wish to
see this deal defeated because it
“adds nearly
$900 billion to the National Debt”
are punishing
taxpayers for the profligacy of the government.
The National Debt is nearly $14 trillion
because of excessive spending, not because
of tax cuts. Every dollar added to the
National Debt is due to the governmentís inability
to rein in spending, not because American
taxpayers are paying too little of their salaries
to the Federal Government. This is why
I vote against all appropriations bills. Allowing
taxes to rise and provide more money to the
federal government would only serve to further
feed the beast that is devouring this country.
2010 Ron Paul 62:4
This bill also reduces the burden of the estate
tax, which according to law is set to return
in 2011. This unconscionable tax is an insidious
form of double taxation and comes into
effect in 2011 with a 55 percent tax rate.
Americans should not be penalized for accumulating
savings during their lifetimes. The estate
tax especially harms small and family-
owned businesses, which often must be sold
to pay the tax bill. H.R. 4853 reduces this
death tax rate from 55 percent to 35 percent,
and raises the exemption from $1 million to $5
million. While I would prefer to see this tax
eliminated completely, this significant tax cut
will help thousands of families.
2010 Ron Paul 62:5
Many people have urged that this tax bill be
rejected and that Republicans come back in
January to vote on a clean bill. Waiting until
the next Congress would also mean that taxpayers
would have much more of their salary
withheld until any tax cuts could be made.
While it is certainly possible to wait until January,
we still have a Democratic Senate, and a
Democratic president who would likely veto a
clean tax bill. I too would prefer to see a completely
clean bill, but that is not what we have
been given. A vote against the bill before us
today would be a vote to raise taxes on all
Americans.
2010 Ron Paul 62:6
Much of the debate about this bill only
serves to distract people from discussing substantive
change and lead to argument about
picayune minutiae. I believe we should abolish
the income tax and eliminate the IRS altogether.
Congress funded the government
using excise taxes for more than 120 years
without an income tax, and the Federal Government
not surprisingly adhered much more
closely to the constitutionally-defined limits of
its powers during that time. Real tax reform
can only happen when we insist on reducing
the size of the Federal Government and reducing
the pork in its bloated budget.
