House Democrats introduced a new proposal that would give middle class families a $2,000 tax cut that was immediately shot down by Speaker Of The House John Boehner, because Republicans have no interest in helping the middle class.
The Washington Post described the Democratic plan as a step towards addressing income inequality:
The centerpiece of the proposal, set to be unveiled Monday by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), is a “paycheck bonus credit” that would shave $2,000 a year off the tax bills of couples earning less than $200,000. Other provisions would nearly triple the tax credit for child care and reward people who save at least $500 a year.
The windfall — about $1.2 trillion over a decade — would come directly from the pockets of Wall Street “high rollers” through a new fee on financial transactions, and from the top 1 percent of earners, who would lose billions of dollars in lucrative tax breaks.
Speaker Boehner shot down the idea via a tweet from his spokesperson:
Boehner spx Steel on Van Hollen plan: The last thing we need is a new trillion-dollar tax hike added to the current broken tax code.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 12, 2015
What this statement meant in terms of legislative action is that Speaker Boehner is not going to allow the Democratic proposal to be brought to the House floor for a vote. Throughout his time as Speaker, John Boehner has killed legislation that he opposes by not allowing it to come to the floor for a vote.
Boehner’s position that tax cuts add to the deficit apparently only applies to tax cuts for the middle class because it was only last month that Speaker Boehner supported a $440 billion tax cut for corporations. John Boehner is fond of referring to the House as the People’s House, but it clear that the people the Speaker is referring to aren’t working folks or middle class Americans.
By the People’s House, Speaker Boehner means the Koch brothers, corporations, or other special interests. If Republicans were serious about governing, they would seize the opportunity to pass a middle-class tax cut that Democrats would support and the president would sign. Instead, Republicans are using their power in Congress to harm the middle class while claiming to be carrying out the will of the people.
A middle-class tax cut would put money back into the pockets of those who need it most while providing a boost to the economy. Boehner’s rejection of the Democratic proposal is another reminder that the Republican Party doesn’t care about ordinary hard working Americans,
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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