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Legislative update from Senator Richard Burr
Story Date: 7/30/2012
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Source: U.S. Senator Richard Burr (N.C.), 7/27/12
Democrat Tax Bill Hurts Small Businesses, Further Threatens Economic Recovery
Earlier this week, the Senate voted on a tax bill introduced by Majority Leader Reid that could have a devastating effect on our economy. Without action by Congress and the President, all taxpayers will face an automatic tax increase as current tax policies expire. While the President and the Majority Leader claim that the bill passed by the Senate will extend current tax rates for all but “the wealthiest Americans”, it would apply to nearly one million small businesses across the country who file taxes as individuals and have more than $200,000 in income. In fact, a recent study by Ernst and Young states that this tax hike bill could reduce the workforce by 700,000 jobs and reduce wages by 1.8%.
Rather than raising taxes on the engine that could potentially drive our economic recovery, we need to be focused on policies that will actually encourage growth and spur hiring. I supported an amendment to this bill that would have extended current tax rates through 2013 and required the Finance Committee to propose an overhaul of the tax code to make it more fair and just for all Americans and all American businesses. Unfortunately, this amendment failed, pushing us even closer to the very real Fiscal Cliff.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis released GDP numbers for the second quarter of 2012 that confirm fears of a slowing economy. Our GDP for this quarter grew by a mere 1.5%, down 25% from the 2% growth we witnessed in the first quarter of this year. As long as businesses and families are faced with uncertainty and unpredictability when it comes to taxation, regulation, and government spending, this trend of slow growth will continue and our economic recovery will stall.
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