Marathon Pundit: IL GOPers speak out for year-long payroll tax cut extension

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

IL GOPers speak out for year-long payroll tax cut extension

Roskam with Ruberry

Several Illinois House Republicans spoke out in favor of a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut today.

First statement comes from the House Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam of Wheaton:

The president has said it would be "inexcusable" for Congress not to extend this tax holiday for an entire year. The good news is House Republicans agree. Families and small businesses need a full year of tax relief, not a 60 day band-aid that creates uncertainty. Even policy experts say a two-month extension is unworkable and "cannot be implemented properly" The fate of a tax hike on 160 million Americans now rests in the hands of the Senate Democrats, and I urge them to return from vacation, appoint conferees, and ultimately work together to get a year-long agreement.

The next release comes from Adam Kinzinger of Manteno:

Last week, the House passed a responsible, bipartisan measure that continues down the path toward reforming the way Washington does business. The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act is completely paid for; does not raise taxes on job creators; and includes tax cuts of $1,000 on average for hardworking middle class families.

Kinzinger

Most importantly, this legislation provides certainty for families and small businesses for another year. Even President Obama agreed that "Congress needs to extend the payroll tax cut for working Americans for another year." The House and the White House both agreed, a year-long extension of the payroll tax cut is necessary. Unfortunately, the Senate failed to do the work of the American people and instead passed a band-aid solution so they would be able to go home for the holidays. The Senate version provides a meager tax cut of $167 on average for the middle class, which is hardly enough for a family to fill up a car with a few tanks of gas.

Now is the time for the House and Senate to come together and do the work of the American people. Our economy cannot handle the Senate's two month "kicking the can down the road" extension to where we are back here in a couple of months debating the same thing.

Washington must work together to eliminate the threat of a tax increase on the middle class and to ensure that job creators can look a year forward and know what the tax structure is going to be like.

Joe Walsh of McHenry:

The American people are tired of short term approaches that just kick the can down the road. We were elected to office to create certainty, create jobs, and get this fiscal house in order. The time to solve this problem is now, not next year.

Walsh and Ruberry

It is outrageous that Majority Leader Reid and his fellow Democrats refuse to pass a yearlong payroll tax holiday for the American people, simply because they do not want to interrupt their own holiday and return to DC. The two month extension passed by the Senate is unworkable and outside business groups have reiterated that it will hurt, not help, small businesses and job creation.

The House recently passed a full-year extension of the payroll tax holiday, but President Obama and the Senate have held up this bill. Just yesterday the president blamed the Tea Party, singling me out by name, for putting us in this position. The situation we are now in has nothing to do with the Tea Party. We are in this situation because the president's policies have destroyed job creation in this country, and that is why we have to extend unemployment insurance and the payroll tax holiday. This shows just how out of touch the President is.

As Chairman of the Small Business Committee's Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax, and Capital Access, I know first-hand that a two-month extension of the payroll tax holiday will only hurt small businesses, as it will add to the growing economic uncertainty in this country. I hope the Senate and the President will return from their holidays, and come back to Washington D.C. and do their jobs.

And finally, Bob Dold of Kenilworth:

The President asked Congress for a one year extension on the payroll tax holiday and that is exactly what I have supported – last week, a bipartisan House majority took action and passed a full one year extension of the payroll tax holiday so that middle class families wouldn't see more of their paycheck taken away in these tough economic times. In that bill, I also voted to protect senior's health care for the next two years by ensuring doctors in the Medicare program don’t have their reimbursements cut.

While I prefer a year-long extension on the payroll tax holiday and a two-year extension that protects seniors' access to their doctors, the bottom line is that the House and Senate need to come to an agreement before the end of the year so that hard-working families do not face a tax increase on January 1st.

I am certain that if the Senate appoints conferees we can find common ground between the House supported year-long extension and the Senate supported two-month extension. The American people are fed up with politics as usual and the best thing Congress can do this holiday season is to pass a bipartisan bill that doesn't require the American people to give more of their hard-earned money to the government.