Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14), a member of the House Budget Committee, this morning blasted the Democrats’ fiscal year 2008 budget plan – which passed the Committee early this morning – for being the largest proposed federal budget coupled with the largest-ever tax hike in American history.

Mack said:

“When the Democrats took the gavel in January they wasted no time in ushering in a new era of government expansion and fiscal irresponsibility. They promised more spending and more taxing and now they’ve delivered.

“At $2.9 trillion, the Democrats’ budget is the largest in American history. And by letting the critical tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire, they are also imposing the largest tax hike in American history despite the fact that those tax cuts have created over 7.6 million new jobs for Americans and increased the child tax credit from $600 to $1,000 for nearly 1.6 million families in Florida.

“What’s more, the Democrats’ proposal offers no real fix for the looming alternative minimum tax crisis, which is catching more and more middle-class Americans every year because it is not indexed for inflation.

“The Democrats’ reckless tax and spend budget is a one-two punch that will knock-out America’s economy and hard-working taxpayers everywhere.”

During committee debate, Republicans offered several amendments to slow government spending and reduce the tax burden on Americans. Each and every Republican amendment, including one by Mack that would have extended for one year the tax provision that allows citizens who live in states with a sales tax to deduct that tax from their federal income taxes, was rejected by the Democrat-controlled panel.

“My amendment would have leveled the playing field for millions of hard-working middle class Americans who live in states like Florida that do not have a state income tax. That the Democrats turned their backs on the middle class so they could fund the era of giant government is simply astonishing,” Mack concluded.

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