Doyle Stakes Out Position on Fiscal Cliff

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (PA-14) announced his belief that any agreement addressing the upcoming “fiscal cliff” should reflect certain basic principles.

“I share the President’s view that any agreement must be balanced and fair,” Congressman Doyle said this afternoon, “Those two principles will guide my actions.”

“Any plan to avoid the fiscal cliff should include a balance of both spending cuts and new revenues,” Congressman Doyle explained. “Moreover, it must ask all Americans to share in the sacrifice – not just the poor and middle class, who are affected the most by spending cuts, but also the wealthiest households, which have benefited the most from the Bush tax cuts over the last 12 years.”

The term “fiscal cliff” refers to more than $500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect at the end of this year. If no action is taken by Congress to avert the “fiscal cliff,” the following federal policy changes will kick in:

•    $399 billion in tax increases:

o    $221 billion tax increase caused by the scheduled expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the Alternative Minimum Tax “patch”
o    $95 billion tax increase caused by the scheduled expiration of the 2 percent payroll tax holiday
o    $83 billion tax increase caused by scheduled changes in other federal tax provisions

•    $102 billion in spending cuts:

o    $65 billion in across-the-board spending cuts (“Sequestration”) required by the Budget Control Act
o    $26 billion in reduced spending due to the scheduled expiration of emergency unemployment benefits
o    $11 in reduced spending due to scheduled reductions in reimbursement rates for Medicare service providers

“I believe that any Congressional action addressing the fiscal cliff should protect the working and middle classes, and I will be working to achieve that goal in the days and weeks ahead,” Congressman Doyle added.

###