Congressman Dave Reichert

Washington, May 17 - By Congressman Dave Reichert (WA-08)

As Washington State continues to confront challenging economic conditions, as families across our country continue to struggle with crushing unemployment, and as businesses are cutting back just to survive, it’s past time the U.S. Congress focus its ideas and efforts on proposals that will create jobs and get our economy moving again.  We need to change how Congress works.

Rather than grow the size of government or continue adding to our record deficit, Congress instead should be promoting opportunities for individuals, families and small businesses by keeping taxes low, acting to implement pending free trade agreements, and work with the tax code to encourage economic growth.

In all of these things, we must work together. None of these are Democratic or Republican issues – these are concerns shared by all Americans from all walks of life. So I stand ready and remain dedicated to working across party lines to reach common-sense solutions on their behalf.

This series will explain my assessment of the three areas highlighted above, and the solutions I propose that will make significant contributions to put people back to work, ensure our economic recovery, and take an important step to restore our fellow citizens’ hope and belief in the American Dream.

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As Sheriff, my mission was to protect and serve the citizens of King County. Now as I serve in Congress, my responsibilities are similar. Among them, to protect and preserve opportunities for our citizens to pursue the American Dream. As unemployment continues to hover near 10 percent and people struggle to get by, for some that Dream may have grown dim. Dollars don’t seem to stretch as far, and we feel like we’re asked to do the same – or more – with less. But there are constructive ways to address this problem, and I continue to fight for solutions to grow our economy and to preserve and create jobs.

Let me be clear: I object to the business-as-usual approach in Washington, DC – including the idea that we can tax or spend our way back to a healthy economy. Instead of raising taxes and growing the size of government, I believe Congress must instead do the work necessary to keep taxes low and provide targeted tax incentives to spur economic growth. I believe all Americans should be able to keep more of their hard-earned money to save, spend, and invest as they see fit.

That’s why I’ve supported key tax relief measures for individuals, families, and businesses alike. I’m working to repeal the death tax, to make permanent the 15-percent capital gains rate, marriage penalty relief, charitable giving deduction, and the child tax credit.  It’s why I support making the state sales tax deduction permanent – to bring much-needed tax fairness to Washington taxpayers.  And it’s also why I introduced a bill to help bring down the cost of energy bills for families and businesses.

For our small businesses – the very drivers of our economic engine – I have worked to prevent burdensome tax increases on innovation and investment. I’ve fought to permanently preserve and expand the research and development tax credit so our Pacific Northwest culture of innovation does not suffer more than it already has. I support tax incentives for developing renewable and alternative energy, extending access to needed capital for small businesses, and I helped to introduce legislation to address an unfair tax on health insurance premiums for the self-employed, who should not be forced to pay an extra tax on their health insurance premiums. In every way possible, Congress must encourage small businesses – not penalize them.

What’s more – the last thing Congress should do during these tough economic times is to sit idly by, allowing a massive income tax increase that will threaten our job creators’ ability to survive the current economic environment. But unfortunately that’s exactly what’s happening today. Without Congress acting to stop the tax increase that’s coming at the end of this year, American small businesses will see their taxes increase by $588 billion. That’s not to mention the tax increases included in the recently passed health care overhaul bill that will raise taxes on small businesses by $262.2 billion, employee health plans by $32 billion, and medical devices by $20 billion. In fact, Congress is currently considering multiple bills that would raise taxes on almost everything – from teacher pensions to investments in medical research. This is exactly the wrong approach, and it’s not the way we fix our struggling economy. Congress should instead focus on proven initiatives that will strengthen our economy and create jobs.

It is past time that Congress focus its efforts on solutions to get our economy moving again, including making permanent the tax provisions that are set to expire this year. This aid is too important to the strength of our economy and our fellow Americans to be held hostage by politics.

I remain committed to protecting individuals, families, and our small business owners and employees from massive tax hikes and misguided policies. I’ll continue fighting for a common-sense tax code that will preserve our ability to innovate and keep the American Dream alive.

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