John Boehner 8TH DISCTRICT OF OHIO

Today, Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) released the following column discussing House-passed legislation that addresses the threat to our economy posed by the looming tax hike:

“Two years after the Obama administration declared, ‘welcome to the recovery,’ this much is clear: with 42 consecutive months of the national unemployment above eight percent, the private sector still isn’t ‘doing fine’ and President Obama’s economic plan did not work.  And yet, the Democrats who run Washington are demanding a massive tax hike on small businesses that – according to accounting firm Ernst & Young – will destroy more than 700,000 jobs.

“As a former small businessman in Southwest Ohio, I can tell you that the last thing we should be doing is raising taxes on the very people who create jobs.  I am not alone in that assessment.  On August 2, I released a list of 88 economists who warn that the tax hike on small businesses supported by President Obama and congressional Democratic leaders will hurt the struggling economy and must be stopped before it goes into effect.

“Dr. Susan Feigenbaum of the University of Missouri-St. Louis Department of Economics bluntly said that ‘If you are currently unemployed, you'll be able to thank these tax increases for remaining unemployed [next year].’  And Dr. Jeffrey Miron of Harvard University took on the president’s notion that raising taxes will help our economy, saying that the tax hikes ‘are misguided in the extreme.  Expenditure cuts – of all kinds – are the path to fiscal responsibility.’

“These and other economists agree: stopping all of the tax hikes scheduled for January 1 is necessary to prevent further job losses and damage to our nation’s economy.  So on August 1, the House voted in a bipartisan way to stop the president’s small business tax hike via the Job Protection and Recession Prevention Act of 2012 (H.R. 8).  This legislation, if enacted, would ensure that all Americans, including our nation’s job creators, will not have to endure this tax hike in the coming year. 

“But if we’re serious about long-term economic growth, we cannot just stop with blocking the president’s tax hike - we must reform the broken system altogether.  Middle-class families and small businesses deserve a better, fairer, and simpler tax code that fosters job growth instead of discouraging it, and the House intends to work toward that.  On August 2, the House approved a bill to establish an expedited process by which Congress would enact real tax reform in 2013, laying the groundwork for a fairer tax code that lowers rates and closes loopholes so that we can keep more jobs here in the U.S. and bring home jobs that have gone overseas. 

“Unfortunately, the House is the only body in Washington that has taken action to address our broken tax code and put an end to the uncertainty the looming tax hike has caused in our private sector.  Dr. Corrine Krupp of Duke University put it best when she said ‘It is patently irresponsible for Congress to allow massive tax increases to kick in while the economy is still weak.  It is even more irresponsible to create and foster an environment of uncertainty about future taxes now when households and businesses are planning for the future.’

“It is in the interest of our economy to quickly address this issue, and I will continue to encourage the Democratic-controlled Senate to follow the House’s lead and pass legislation to stop the entire tax hike.  Having run a small business, I know how important it is for job creators to have certainty, and I have indicated that the House will call our members back from their districts and reconvene in August should the Senate act. 

“It was President Obama himself who said less than two years ago that stopping tax hikes was the right thing for our struggling economy – and it is still the right thing to do.  Entrepreneurs and innovators are responsible for their success, not government, and we need to get Washington out of their way.”

Boehner represents Ohio’s 8th District, which includes all of Darke, Miami, and Preble counties, most of Butler and Mercer counties, and the northeastern corner of Montgomery County. He was first elected to Congress in 1990.