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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congressman Allen Boyd (D-North Florida), a leader of the Blue Dog Coalition, last night supported legislation to provide immediate, fiscally responsible tax relief for middle income families across America. The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Relief Act of 2007 (HR 4351) would prevent more than 23 million families—including 31,000 North Floridians—from a tax increase under the AMT. Complying with pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) rules, HR 4351 is fully paid for and does not add to the already staggering $9 trillion national debt.
“I am proud to support this fiscally responsible and fair tax relief package, which will put money back in the pockets of thousands of North Florida’s families,” Congressman Boyd said. “This legislation is a strong testament to the fact that we can provide sensible tax relief without having our children and grandchildren foot the bill. Paying for our priorities instead of borrowing trillions of dollars from foreign countries is possible, and the House of Representatives, at the insistence of the Blue Dogs, has shown that it has the ability, the will, and the backbone to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”
At a press conference today, Congressman Boyd and his Blue Dog colleagues called on the Senate to uphold its commitment to fiscal responsibility and pass an AMT bill that is paid for. To date, the House has passed two AMT bills, both of which provided tax relief for middle income families and complied with PAYGO rules. Last week, the Senate failed in their duties as responsible stewards of the people’s hard earned tax dollars and passed an AMT bill that was not paid for.
“Those of us in North Florida know that you have to pay your bills. You either pay them today, or you pay them tomorrow with interest,” Boyd stated. “If we don’t pay for an AMT bill today, our government will have to pay an additional $29 billion in interest on this bill alone. Plain and simple: this is not the way to do business. I am standing behind PAYGO rules because it is the right thing to do, and I urge the Senate to follow suit.”
The AMT was created in 1969 to target 155 high income households that had been eligible for so many tax benefits that they owed little or no income tax under the tax code at the time. In recent years, the AMT has been under increased attention because it is not indexed for inflation, resulting in a growing number of middle income taxpayers subject to this tax who were never its intended targets. Each year, the AMT hits more and more middle class families unless it is changed by Congress.
In 2005, 3,092 households in North Florida paid the AMT. Without this legislation, this number would increase by 1,003 percent and affect 34,092 North Florida households in 2007.
“The IRS calls the AMT the ‘Number 1 most serious problem’ facing taxpayers, and they are right,” Boyd stated. “While I applaud this Congress for extending AMT relief in a fiscally responsible way, we must work towards developing a permanent solution, instead of continuing to enact temporary fixes. The American people are looking to Congress to lead on this issue, and I encourage all of my colleagues to join the Blue Dogs in pushing for a permanent, long term solution to the AMT challenge.”
HR 4351 passed in the House by a vote of 226 to 193 and now awaits action by the Senate.
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*Below: National debt figures and the impact on our nation and its people. Calculations based on data from the United States Treasury, Bureau of Economic Analysis; the Congressional Research Service; the U.S. Census Bureau; and the Federal Highway Administration.
National Debt Figures
- America’s gross national debt is now $9.17 trillion.
- Since 2001, we have increased the privately-held debt by $1.8 trillion, 68 percent of it borrowed from foreign sources.
- As a percentage of the gross domestic product, the national debt has doubled over the last 26 years.
- Since President Bush took office, the gross national debt has increased by $3.427 trillion. That’s:
o $41.54 billion per month
o $9.57 billion per week
o $1.37 billion per day
o $56.93 million per hour
o $948,907 per minute
o $15,815 per second
- Since President Bush took office, we have borrowed $1.23 trillion from foreign sources. That’s:
o $15.45 billion per month
o $3.54 billion per week
o $505.6 million per day
o $21.07 million per hour
o $351,113 per minute
o $5,852 per second
- This year we will have paid $239 billion in interest on the national debt. The same amount would pay for any of the following:
o Stocking every U.S. family’s refrigerator for seven months
o Filling every U.S. gas tank for 10 months at today’s gas prices
o Providing four years of in-state public tuition for 10.2 million students
o Paying one year’s salary for 8 million new teachers
- The federal government has sent $709 billion abroad in the form of interest payments since President Bush took office—$155 billion in 2007 alone. The same amount would fund any of the following:
o 12,000 new elementary schools
o 7,000 new veterans’ clinics
o All road and bridge construction and improvements for 10 years
Sources: United States Treasury, Bureau of Economic Analysis; Congressional Research Service; U.S. Census Bureau; and the Federal Highway Administration.
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