A Republican "sore winner"
The Republican incumbent from Ohio's 12 Congressional district was re-elected to the U.S. House of Representitives on November 7, 2006. This will be Pat Tiberi's 4th consecutive term in that seat. As a "thank you" to his constituents, he sent this letter to the editor of a local paper here in Columbus, called "The Booster":
http://tiberi.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=53075
I've reprinted the letter at the bottom of this post, with the title which appeared in the November 22, 2006 Booster.
Here is the letter I wrote to the Booster in response:
To the Editor:
Congressman Pat Tiberi presented a "Democrats will raise your taxes" warning in a recent letter to the editor. He quoted Robert Rubin, President Clinton's former Treasury Secretary, as advocating an increase in revenues, in part through an increase in taxes. Excuse me, but Mr. Rubin is not part of a Democratic administration anymore, nor is he running for office. His opinion may be of value, however, because when he was Treasury Secretary the country saw budget surpluses, quite unlike the record deficits of the past six years. For the record, recently-elected Democrats have suggested letting tax cuts for the rich expire, while reducing taxes on the middle class. "Permanent tax cuts for the rich" seems like a reckless policy intended to please big-money donors, which will saddle future generations with huge debt.
Mr. Tiberi suggests an "alternative" course of increasing revenue: collecting taxes owed, but not collected. He says that as much as $345 billion remains uncollected from 2001 alone. I have a suggestion for Mr. Tiberi: why doesn't he convince his Republication leadership to collect those delinquent taxes? There are still a few weeks left of Republican control of Congress. They can investigate why those delinquent taxpayers have not been pursued and made to pay. If he really thinks such huge revenues can be raised by simply getting people and companies to pay up, then why have Republicans not moved forward with that course of action? Mr. Tiberi has been in Congress since 2000, making it curious that he raises this point only now.
------------------------------------------
Democrat will resort to old ways on taxes
To the Editor:
It certainly didn’t take long. Before they’ve even been assigned offices or picked up their fresh, shiny IDs, members of the new Democrat majorities in the House and Senate were told by a top former Clinton administration official that the first thing they should do is raise taxes.
“You cannot solve the nation’s fiscal problems without increased revenues,” former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin advised during a Washington speech less than 48 hours after the mid-term elections. He wasn’t just talking about letting today’s low tax rates expire in a few years as required by law, either. He suggested that taxes be increased right now.
Forgive me, Mr. Rubin, but the American people are already providing their government with a huge increase in taxes. The government says revenues in the fiscal year that ended on September 30 were up 12% from the previous year, a trend that continued through October. In fact, the Treasury Department took in some $85.8 billion, the largest amount ever collected in a single day, on September 15.
Here’s an alternative: Instead or telling Americans they need to pay more, how about just collecting what’s already owed? Earlier this year, we were told that as much as $345 billion--that's right, billion--in taxes went uncollected in 2001. The magnitude of that number cannot be overstated. If unpaid taxes totaled a similar amount last year, it would have been more than enough to wipe out the $248 billion federal deficit reported for fiscal 2006—with plenty to spare.
The former Treasury Secretary was right about one thing. There are serious, long term structural problems that must be addressed, most notably with Social Security and Medicare. But it’s wrong to suggest that the only answer is to increase taxes now. First, any immediate tax hike wouldn’t be used to help Social Security or Medicare because those programs are now running surpluses and will for years to come. Does anybody seriously believe Democrats would increase taxes now, then set the money aside? They’d simply spend it, and worry about entitlement programs later.
Further, Rubin proposed tax hikes as a rushed first response, not a last resort. There are numerous options for reform in Social Security, Medicare and all other government programs that should be considered before higher taxes are even brought to the table for discussion.
The timing of Rubin’s let’s-raise-taxes statement was curious for another reason. He waited until after the election. He must have known that a number of Democrat candidates told voters they were against tax increases. His statement to the contrary, if offered during the campaign, would have put them in an extremely uncomfortable position. Now, of course, voters could be forgiven for wondering if they’ll be hearing the same old song from Democrats, saying one thing before election day, then doing the opposite once they get to Washington.
We’ll find out after they officially take over as the majority party in Congress on January third.
U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Township)
http://tiberi.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=53075
I've reprinted the letter at the bottom of this post, with the title which appeared in the November 22, 2006 Booster.
Here is the letter I wrote to the Booster in response:
To the Editor:
Congressman Pat Tiberi presented a "Democrats will raise your taxes" warning in a recent letter to the editor. He quoted Robert Rubin, President Clinton's former Treasury Secretary, as advocating an increase in revenues, in part through an increase in taxes. Excuse me, but Mr. Rubin is not part of a Democratic administration anymore, nor is he running for office. His opinion may be of value, however, because when he was Treasury Secretary the country saw budget surpluses, quite unlike the record deficits of the past six years. For the record, recently-elected Democrats have suggested letting tax cuts for the rich expire, while reducing taxes on the middle class. "Permanent tax cuts for the rich" seems like a reckless policy intended to please big-money donors, which will saddle future generations with huge debt.
Mr. Tiberi suggests an "alternative" course of increasing revenue: collecting taxes owed, but not collected. He says that as much as $345 billion remains uncollected from 2001 alone. I have a suggestion for Mr. Tiberi: why doesn't he convince his Republication leadership to collect those delinquent taxes? There are still a few weeks left of Republican control of Congress. They can investigate why those delinquent taxpayers have not been pursued and made to pay. If he really thinks such huge revenues can be raised by simply getting people and companies to pay up, then why have Republicans not moved forward with that course of action? Mr. Tiberi has been in Congress since 2000, making it curious that he raises this point only now.
------------------------------------------
Democrat will resort to old ways on taxes
To the Editor:
It certainly didn’t take long. Before they’ve even been assigned offices or picked up their fresh, shiny IDs, members of the new Democrat majorities in the House and Senate were told by a top former Clinton administration official that the first thing they should do is raise taxes.
“You cannot solve the nation’s fiscal problems without increased revenues,” former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin advised during a Washington speech less than 48 hours after the mid-term elections. He wasn’t just talking about letting today’s low tax rates expire in a few years as required by law, either. He suggested that taxes be increased right now.
Forgive me, Mr. Rubin, but the American people are already providing their government with a huge increase in taxes. The government says revenues in the fiscal year that ended on September 30 were up 12% from the previous year, a trend that continued through October. In fact, the Treasury Department took in some $85.8 billion, the largest amount ever collected in a single day, on September 15.
Here’s an alternative: Instead or telling Americans they need to pay more, how about just collecting what’s already owed? Earlier this year, we were told that as much as $345 billion--that's right, billion--in taxes went uncollected in 2001. The magnitude of that number cannot be overstated. If unpaid taxes totaled a similar amount last year, it would have been more than enough to wipe out the $248 billion federal deficit reported for fiscal 2006—with plenty to spare.
The former Treasury Secretary was right about one thing. There are serious, long term structural problems that must be addressed, most notably with Social Security and Medicare. But it’s wrong to suggest that the only answer is to increase taxes now. First, any immediate tax hike wouldn’t be used to help Social Security or Medicare because those programs are now running surpluses and will for years to come. Does anybody seriously believe Democrats would increase taxes now, then set the money aside? They’d simply spend it, and worry about entitlement programs later.
Further, Rubin proposed tax hikes as a rushed first response, not a last resort. There are numerous options for reform in Social Security, Medicare and all other government programs that should be considered before higher taxes are even brought to the table for discussion.
The timing of Rubin’s let’s-raise-taxes statement was curious for another reason. He waited until after the election. He must have known that a number of Democrat candidates told voters they were against tax increases. His statement to the contrary, if offered during the campaign, would have put them in an extremely uncomfortable position. Now, of course, voters could be forgiven for wondering if they’ll be hearing the same old song from Democrats, saying one thing before election day, then doing the opposite once they get to Washington.
We’ll find out after they officially take over as the majority party in Congress on January third.
U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Genoa Township)
posted by batguano at 11:36 PM
