Rep. Miller Statement on House Passage of Measure Averting the "Fiscal Cliff"

WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Candice Miller (MI-10) today made the following statement on the passage of the measure averting the “fiscal cliff”:

“The idea of allowing taxes to rise on every American family and small business was completely unacceptable to me and those who I serve.  Throughout this process my primary goal has been to limit how many Americans would be hit by higher taxes and the measure we passed today will stop income taxes from increasing for 98% of Americans.

“While this deal was not perfect, it was certainly better than the alternative which would have been a more than $500 billion tax increase on our economy in 2013 alone.  Doing nothing would have thrown our economy back into recession, eliminated countless jobs, and caused untold pain for American families.  This bill also provides permanent relief for tens of millions of American taxpayers from the Alternative Minimum Tax, and provides relief and rate certainty for millions of American seniors who depend on dividends and capital gains income to help them enjoy a secure retirement.  This bill also made a much needed change to physician reimbursement rates under Medicare to make certain that seniors would still be able to see the doctor of their choice.  If this fix had not been enacted then many doctors may have stopped taking Medicare patients. 

“Additionally, permanent relief on the Death Tax was enacted.  This tax was slated to rise to 55% on every estate above $1 million and this bill puts in place a 40% rate on estates above $5 million which will protect millions of family farms and small businesses from being forced to sell simply to pay an outrageous tax bill.  I am also glad that this agreement approved a one year extension of the Farm Bill.  Maintaining a safe, secure, and abundant food supply is vital for our nation and this extension achieves that goal allowing farmers to plan properly for the coming growing season.  In addition, failure to act on the Farm Bill would have caused prices to skyrocket for necessities like milk which would have been a stealth tax on every American family.  In the New Year we will begin consideration on a five year reauthorization of the Farm Bill and I am hopeful that we can find bipartisan agreement on a solid and forward looking national farm policy.

“While this bill accomplishes a great many things, I am very disappointed that it did nothing to address the real driver of our debt which is out-of-control spending.  It is long past time for the Administration and the Democrats to join House Republicans in our determination to tackle this looming crisis.  They can be certain as we move forward toward dealing with the issue of our nation’s debt ceiling, we must have fiscally responsible spending cuts and much needed reforms to the programs that are burying our nation under a mountain of debt.”

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