Budget and Taxes
As a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition, I am committed to Fiscal Responsibility. Unfortunately, over the last seven years, our national debt has exploded to over $9 trillion. In addition, from 2002 to 2007, our foreign-held debt has increased from about $1.2 trillion to almost $2.4 trillion. I am committed to fiscal responsibility and to reversing these troubling trends. Under the leadership of the Blue Dog Coalition, the House of Representatives has strictly enforced the pay-as-you (PAYGO) budget rule to control the spending practices of the federal government. This rule requires that increases in discretionary spending and tax cuts be offset by other forms of revenue to prevent increases in our federal deficit.
We Need to Balance the Budget. I voted in favor of H. Con. Res. 312, the 2009 Fiscal Year Budget Resolution, which would establish the Federal budget guidelines for the next five years and restore fiscal responsibility to Washington . H. Con Res. 312 adheres to PAYGO and balances the federal budget by 2012. It also contains provisions to crack down on wasteful spending. It is irresponsible to continue to run up huge budget deficits, passing more and more debt onto our children and grandchildren.
We need a budget that sets the right priorities for the American people. H. Con. Res. 312 rejects the President’s cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, the Low Income Home Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and to the Community Oriented Policing Services program (COPS). It also significantly increases funding for health care, including veterans’ health care and to children through the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Finally, this budget resolution provides robust funding for our national defense and increases Homeland Security funding.
We Need Permanent Middle-class Tax Cuts. The Budget Resolution includes tax relief for the middle-class, including the extension of the child tax credit, marriage penalty relief, estate tax relief, extension of the deduction for state and local sales taxes, and a tax credit for school construction bonds.
We Must Protect Our Middle class from the AMT. I am committed to finding a long-term and fiscally sound fix to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). The AMT was originally created in the 1960s as a parallel income tax designed to prevent high-income taxpayers from using too many deductions and credits to avoid paying federal income taxes. When the AMT was created, it applied to fewer than 20,000 taxpayers. Unfortunately, two factors caused more taxpayers, especially middle to upper-middle income taxpayers, to be affected by the AMT. First, unlike the regular income tax, the AMT is not indexed for inflation. Second, the Bush Administration’s tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans lowered the difference between regular income tax liabilities and AMT liabilities. In 2006, 3.5 million people were subject to the AMT. By 2016, without Congressional action, that number could increase to 50 million people. I am also committed to protecting our middle-income taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).
The Budget Resolution protects middle-class tax payers from the AMT without adding to our budget deficit. In addition, I supported H.R. 3996, the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007, which was signed into law in December 2007. This legislation ensured that no additional taxpayers paid the AMT in 2007 and extended popular tax credits and deductions. I also supported efforts in November and December of 2007 to pay for an AMT patch by repealing tax loopholes enjoyed by a select few.
Read Congressman Carney's OP ED on middle class tax cuts
Read Congressman Carney's official press releases on Taxes: