House Passes AMT

House Passes AMT Fix, Protects Middle Class:

The House has just passed the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007, H.R. 3996 by a vote of 216-193 which would provide millions of middle-class families with tax cuts and help grow our economy without increasing the national debt. The Temporary Tax Relief Act will provide immediate tax relief for working families by preventing 23 million middle class families from paying higher taxes this April. The legislation also closes unfair tax loopholes that benefit Wall Street millionaires and cost middle class taxpayers billions. The Republican Party had an opportunity to offer a substitute, but declined to do so, having decried the PAYGO rules instituted during this Congress which would have prevented new deficit spending.

Speaker Pelosi: "It enables us as Members of Congress to plant a flag for fiscal responsibility, to plant a flag for the middle class in our country… When we talk about fiscal responsibility, unfortunately, it always seems necessary after listening to my Republican colleagues to set the record straight. The Democratic Party is the party of fiscal responsibility. When president Clinton was president, his four final budgets were in surplus. He left office with our budget on a trajectory of $5.6 trillion in surplus. Sadly, the Bush Administration reversed that, taking us to over $3 trillion in deficit, a swing — now we are about a swing of about $10 trillion, a swing that is greater than anyone has ever seen in history in terms of fiscal irresponsibility."

AMT Debate Highlights True Party of Fiscal Responsibility:

As noted this morning, Democrats passed the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007, H.R. 3996, which would provide millions of middle-class families with tax cuts by protecting them from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and help grow our economy without increasing the national debt. The bill passed without a single Republican vote, and Republicans declined to offer any alternative after denouncing the PAYGO rules.

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The Temporary Tax Relief Act:

Today, the House passed the Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007, H.R. 3996 which would provide millions of middle-class families with tax cuts and help grow our economy without increasing the national debt. The Temporary Tax Relief Act will provide immediate tax relief for working families by preventing 23 million middle class families from paying higher taxes this April. The legislation also closes unfair tax loopholes that benefit Wall Street millionaires and cost middle class taxpayers billions.

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Learn more about the Temporary Tax Relief Act from the House Ways and Means Committee ( pdf )