stephanie
10-29-2007, 02:07 AM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 26, 2007
Filed at 2:18 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House's top Democratic tax writer outlined a $1 trillion plan Thursday to eliminate the alternative minimum tax and ease the tax burdens of most people by asking the rich and some companies to pay more.
''We have attempted to restore equity and fairness to the system,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He said his plan would mean net tax cuts to almost all families with incomes under $500,000.
Rangel, D-N.Y., said the more ambitious aspects of his proposal, which includes cutting the corporate tax rate and ending some business provisions, would take time ''to be aired out.'' He said at a news conference he hoped the proposal might move forward by next spring.
Republican leaders did not need time to take a stand. House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio said the ''mother of all tax hikes'' would ''doom our economy'' and put people out of work. The second-ranking House Republican, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, said his party would use the proposal to show Democratic support of tax increases. ''Very seldom in politics do people give you this kind of gift,'' he said.
Added the Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: ''If such a proposal were to pass the House, it would be dead on arrival in the Senate.''
Rangel shrugged off such criticism. ''We are not raising taxes,'' he said. ''We are restructuring the rates of taxes.'' He said that under his plan, 91 million families would receive tax relief.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she ''certainly'' supported the plan and indicated there would be vigorous debate among Democrats. ''In our caucus we'll have our usual exciting, dynamic give-and-take on the subject,'' Pelosi said.
Rangel's proposal includes a one-year fix to shield middle-income families who could otherwise be hit by the alternative minimum tax. It also would extend several dozen tax breaks in such areas as research and development credit, deductions of state and local sales taxes, and credits for teachers and charitable donations.
Congress is expected to act on the AMT fix and the extensions this year, although Rangel acknowledged differences with the Senate on how to pay for it.
read the rest at..
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Taxes.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Published: October 26, 2007
Filed at 2:18 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House's top Democratic tax writer outlined a $1 trillion plan Thursday to eliminate the alternative minimum tax and ease the tax burdens of most people by asking the rich and some companies to pay more.
''We have attempted to restore equity and fairness to the system,'' said Rep. Charles Rangel, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He said his plan would mean net tax cuts to almost all families with incomes under $500,000.
Rangel, D-N.Y., said the more ambitious aspects of his proposal, which includes cutting the corporate tax rate and ending some business provisions, would take time ''to be aired out.'' He said at a news conference he hoped the proposal might move forward by next spring.
Republican leaders did not need time to take a stand. House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio said the ''mother of all tax hikes'' would ''doom our economy'' and put people out of work. The second-ranking House Republican, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, said his party would use the proposal to show Democratic support of tax increases. ''Very seldom in politics do people give you this kind of gift,'' he said.
Added the Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: ''If such a proposal were to pass the House, it would be dead on arrival in the Senate.''
Rangel shrugged off such criticism. ''We are not raising taxes,'' he said. ''We are restructuring the rates of taxes.'' He said that under his plan, 91 million families would receive tax relief.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she ''certainly'' supported the plan and indicated there would be vigorous debate among Democrats. ''In our caucus we'll have our usual exciting, dynamic give-and-take on the subject,'' Pelosi said.
Rangel's proposal includes a one-year fix to shield middle-income families who could otherwise be hit by the alternative minimum tax. It also would extend several dozen tax breaks in such areas as research and development credit, deductions of state and local sales taxes, and credits for teachers and charitable donations.
Congress is expected to act on the AMT fix and the extensions this year, although Rangel acknowledged differences with the Senate on how to pay for it.
read the rest at..
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-Taxes.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin