Washington Doesn't Like Me Very Much

The hot topic in Washington of late has been taxes: yours, mine, and Warren Buffett’s.  The federal government runs on revenue, much of that derived from taxes: income taxes, inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes, the list goes on and on.  This week, the Obama Administration wants Congress to vote to raise taxes.  As I have said all along, I will not raise taxes.  This simple impasse is one more reason why Washington doesn’t like me very much and in turn, why Washington is more broken than I ever imagined.   

The Obama Administration and the big-spenders in Washington want to raise taxes; in fact, they believe they need to raise taxes.  They don’t understand that the federal government does not have a revenue problem; rather it has a massive spending problem.  And it is irresponsible to ask Americans to pay more taxes to subsidize the government’s reckless spending habits.

As your Congressman, I have ruffled many feathers in Washington by trying to stop the federal government from continually operating with their hand out to the American taxpayers.  And frankly, I believe that is what you sent me here to do.  I won’t back down from government bureaucrats who expect you to work harder and pay more, while they work less and spend more of your hard earned money. 

In good conscience, how can anyone vote to raise taxes during a period of economic instability?  President Obama himself has said in the past that the last thing we should do in a bad economy is raise taxes.  But that was then, and unfortunately for the country, now he has found the political winds more palatable to drive taxes continuously upward. 

Higher taxes will hurt the economy, they will hurt consumers, and they will hurt job creation.  With unemployment hovering around 8%, we cannot afford to do anything that places politics ahead of policies that put people back to work.  That is why this week, rather than voting for the President’s tax increase on job creators and family farms, I will be casting my vote for legislation that will enable small businesses with fewer than 500 employees to use extra capital to invest, grow, and create more jobs through a 20 percent tax deduction.

The President and Senate Democrats should work with us on tax policies that will help our small business job creators.  We can cross the aisle and achieve real bipartisan solutions.  Unfortunately, it is an election year and the politics of the swing states and electoral math make President Obama unwilling to even discuss these types of resolutions.  

I am going to continue to speak out against raising taxes and make the Washington machine realize that we need to reform the system.  Everyone wants to see comprehensive tax reform that brings down rates, broadens the base and closes loopholes. But right now, we shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to take an interim step to help small businesses with this tax cut.  Otherwise, Washington will tear yet another year off of the calendar with 8% unemployment and $4-plus gas.