Stimulus Bill Should Cut Taxes for Middle-Class Families (Rep. Steve Scalise)

Our country is facing tough economic times. When you look across the country you see families tightening their belts to live within their means, and states are tightening their belts to balance their budgets. Washington is the only place that is going on a wild spending spree during these tough economic times. A Congressional Budget Office report says that over half of the Democrats’ proposed spending won’t even take place until after 2010. This defeats the purpose of “stimulus.” We need to help our families, businesses and entrepreneurs by providing tax relief to create good jobs, rather than saddling our children and grandchildren with hundreds of billions of dollars in additional national debt.

The Democratic leadership proposed a massive spending bill that does not do enough to support our middle-class families and small businesses. I have joined with other Members of Congress to propose an alternative plan called the Economic Recovery and Middle-Class Tax Relief Act of 2009. HR 470 focuses on cutting taxes to create jobs and get our nation’s economy back on track. Rather than adding hundreds of billions of dollars in new national debt, our alternative plan will create jobs by cutting taxes for middle-class families and small businesses, while also protecting future generations by reining in runaway spending in Washington.