Dems' Budget May Burden Middle-Class Families with Even More Tax Hikes
January 1, 2009
FYI, a similar version of this release below went out to the following districts: Jason Altmire (PA-04), John Barrow (GA-12), Sanford Bishop (GA-02), Tim Bishop (NY-01), Dan Boren (OK-02), Leonard Boswell (IA-03), Bruce Braley (IA-01), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18), Russ Carnahan (MO-03), Ben Chandler (KY-06), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Jim Cooper (TN-05), Jim Costa (CA-20), Mark Critz (PA-12), Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Peter DeFazio (OR-04), Joe Donnelly (IN-02), Raul Grijalva (AZ-07), Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Brian Higgins (NY-27), Jim Himes (CT-04), Maurice Hinchey (NY-22), Ruben Hinojosa (TX-15), Tim Holden (PA-17), Rush Holt (NJ-12), Jay Inslee (WA-01), Steve Israel (NY-02), Bill Keating (MA-10), Dale Kildee (MI-05), Ron Kind (WI-03), Larry Kissell (NC-08), Rick Larsen (WA-02), David Loebsack (IA-02), Jim Matheson (UT-02), Carolyn McCarthy (NY-04), Mike McIntyre (NC-07), Jerry McNerney (CA-11), Michael Michaud (ME-02), Brad Miller (NC-13), Bill Owens (NY-23), Frank Pallone (NJ-06), Ed Perlmutter (CO-07), Gary Peters (MI-09), Collin Peterson (MN-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), David Price (NC-04), Nick Rahall (WV-03), Mike Ross (AR-04), Loretta Sanchez (CA-47), Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Heath Shuler (NC-11), Adam Smith (WA-09), Betty Sutton (OH-13), John Tierney (MA-06), Niki Tsongas (MA-05), Pete Visclosky (IN-01), Tim Walz (MN-01), Anthony Weiner (NY-09), David Wu (OR-01), John Yarmuth (KY-03)
DeFazio’s Budget May Burden Middle-Class Families with Even More Tax Hikes
Oregon Democrat’s Deficit Plan Uses Fuzzy Math That Doesn’t Add Up
Washington — Although Peter DeFazio and his fellow Democrats recently revealed that they intended to raise taxes by $2 trillion instead of cutting back their spending spree, it appears their plans still wouldn’t add up without even higher levels of tax increases on middle-class families. Since DeFazio and his fellow Democrats seem unwilling to scale back the massive levels of spending they presided over, does that mean they will have to raise taxes on middle-class families throughout Oregon instead?
“If Peter DeFazio is truly serious about this Democrat budget plan that wreaks havoc on the economy and bankrupts Medicare, then he is effectively endorsing tax hikes on middle-class families across Oregon like some of his fellow Democrats already have,” said NRCC Communications Director Paul Lindsay. “Otherwise, DeFazio and his Democrat colleagues need to stop the demagoguery and finally start working to fix the budget mess they created when they spent money we didn’t have and borrowed it from countries like China.”
The Democrats’ deficit plan has been widely criticized by using an extraordinary amount of fuzzy math and few details:
“A soon-to-be-released analysis from a nonpartisan budget watchdog group suggests that there’s somewhat less deficit reduction than meets the eye in President Barack Obama’s new framework.
“It’s another setback for the president’s deficit plan, which already has been criticized for providing little if any detail in some crucial areas, and for fuzzing up the size of its proposed tax increases.”
(John D. McKinnon, “Budget Watchdog: Obama Deficit Plan ‘Falls Short,'” The Wall Street Journal‘s Washington Wire Blog, 4/20/11)
The math is off to the point where one of the only options left would be broad tax increases on middle-class families:
“The chart shows that balancing the budget long-term requires either reducing projected healthcare spending or creating dramatically higher tax revenue. And to increase revenue anywhere near those levels without an incredible burst of economic growth would require broad, new taxes on the middle class, probably using a value-added tax. Cranking up taxes on only the rich is insufficient. (And this assumes no economic impact from such an enormous tax burden.)” (James Pethokoukis, “Hacking Obama’s black box budget,” Reuters’ James Pethokoukis Blog, 4/20/11)
One Democrat already admitted his willingness to raise taxes directly on middle-class families to preserve their spending spree:
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA):
“‘I do not favor the permanent extension of that tax cut [for the wealthy], and frankly I think we’ve got to look at whether we can afford the middle-class tax cut permanently,’ Connolly said.” (Rick Klein, “Dem Rep. Connolly: ‘Got to Look at’ Ending Tax Cuts for Middle Class,” ABC News’ The Note Blog, 4/21/11)It should come as no surprise that DeFazio and his fellow Democrats are using more Washington fuzzy math to hide the extent of their plans to raise taxes instead of cut back their beloved spending spree. However, the question remains, just how broadly does DeFazio want to extend these tax hikes onto the small businesses and middle-class families in Oregon who are already hurting the most?
Fuzzy math suggests the Dems’ budget plan requires more tax hikes on small biz and the middle-class http://ow.ly/4F0Ym #MadeinWDC
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