Congressman Doc Hastings

Taxes

Individuals, families and small businesses are best able to make decisions about how to save, spend and invest – not the federal government.  Americans deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money and they deserve a simple tax code that is clear and understandable. 

I have voted for several major tax relief measures including reducing income tax rates for all workers, restoring the state sales tax deduction for Washingtonians, increasing the child tax credit, ending the marriage tax penalty and the death tax, and creating incentives to help Americans save for college. 

I opposed efforts in Congress to impose a national energy tax on every American family and business.  I will continue to oppose this job-killing tax as the debate moves to the Administration, where the Environmental Protection Agency is threatening to bypass Congress and impose this tax on Americans through regulations. 

Raising taxes hurts families, costs jobs and harms our economy. 

The deficit has not been caused by the government taxing too little – it has been caused by this Congress and this Administration spending too much.