Democrats Trillion Dollar Tax Hike !

Arizona Republican Party Chairman Randy Pullen said the Democrats newly unveiled trillion-dollar tax hike would guarantee decades of Big Government at the cost of American families trying to make ends meet. “Let me echo the comments of the ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee: this is the largest individual income tax increase in history,” Pullen said.

"This is just what the doctor ordered if your physician is named Kevorkian," Pullen said. “The Democrat plan would add a 4-percent surtax on the incomes of Americans earning more than $150,000 per year or $200,000 for married couples – constituting a massive, direct assault upon the institution of marriage in America.

“The Democrat plan raises the top tax rates, reduced by President Reagan, back up to 44-percent,” Pullen said. “That means small business owners, family farmers, even senior citizens preparing for retirement will be paying 44-cents out of every dollar they earn to the federal government rather than preparing for their futures.

“The Democrat tax hike also targets homeowners at a time when our housing market is weathering a crisis,” Pullen added. “While homeowners are struggling to pay their mortgages, the Democrat tax hike would slash the mortgage interest deduction by targeting adjusted gross income rather than taxable income. It hurts taxpayers who count on the mortgage deduction, taxpayers who give to charity, taxpayers who are able to deduct medical expenses, and it also erodes the standard deduction.

“The fact is, there is no real tax cut in the Democrat plan,” Pullen said. “These Americans are already being protected by the Republican AMT tax reduction and already benefiting from President Bush’s tax cuts over the last six years. When Democrats kill the 10-percent tax bracket, the $1,000 per child tax credit and increase the marriage penalty, it means bigger tax bills for millions upon millions of Americans across the nation.

“The bottom line is this: the Democrats are already arguing that blocking their tax increase would require raising other taxes,” Pullen said. “According to congressional analysis, Democrats are trying to force through a system that guarantees $3.5 trillion in tax increases over the next ten years. This is the single largest expansion of the federal government in our lifetime and a direct assault on the freedom of the American people.

“According to the staff of the congressional committees who wrote this bill, the Democrat plan includes revenue from an AMT tax increase and from the tax hikes that occur when the Democrats repeal President Bush’s tax relief,” Pullen warned. “Together, that totals $3.5 trillion over ten years.

"Presumably, the Democrat Party's logic holds that if they can ship enough American jobs overseas, bankrupt enough families, and put enough currently hard-working people on welfare, they can undo with one tax hike all the progress Republicans made getting people off welfare and into work over the last thirteen years," Pullen said. “This is a bad plan that screams of incompetence – one that will almost certainly put us down the path to recession.

“The federal government can’t tax and spend its way to prosperity for the American people,” concluded Pullen. “Why can’t Democrats learn that simple, simple lesson?”

Contact: Sean McCaffrey

(602) 957-7770

smccaffrey@azgop.org