Democrats’ 10-year budget substitute would force a huge tax increase on middle-income taxpayers.
WASHINGTON – Americans for Tax Reform today opposed the budget amendment proposed by Representative John Spratt (SC-5), the ranking Budget Committee Democrat. Spratt’s budget would add nearly $20 billion in spending to the 2007 Budget Resolution and raise taxes on working families. While Spratt introduced his tax hikes in Washington, back in his district State Representative Ralph Norman is campaigning to reduce the tax burden. Norman signed ATR’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge in November of last year, committing himself not to raise taxes on his constituents.
Spratt’s plan would require Congress to allow most of the tax cuts enacted under President Bush to expire and proposes using that revenue to increase spending by $20 billion. The Democrat amendment also fails to budget for natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods, which proved disastrous in 2005.
“The Spratt budget, which calls for increasing taxes to grow the size of government, reflects the priorities of Nancy Pelosi’s liberal San Francisco district and not the will of South Carolina voters,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform. “It makes no sense to raise taxes on South Carolina families, investors and small-business owners just to spend money on Nancy Pelosi’s liberal special interest friends.”
To date, the economy has created 4.96 million new jobs since President Bush signed into law the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (JGTRRA) in May 2003. JGTRRA accelerated income tax rate reductions for all American taxpayers, cut the capital gains tax 25 percent, and slashed the double tax on dividends. The unemployment rate has dropped from 6.2 percent to 4.8 percent in this time and is dropping much faster than government forecasters initially projected following the tax cut.
“The best way to endanger economic prosperity is to adopt this Spratt-endorsed tax increase,” continued Norquist.