This is in response to an email I got from my Congressman in Los Angeles, Representative Xavier Becerra (D, CA-31), who voted against the Tax Relief bill that passed around midnight Thursday, by a count of 277 to 148.
LA Community Policing does not take political stands or positions, but does make comments on issues that are important to the American public and way of life.
I do agree with the central premise in what Congressman Becerra says here -- that we can do better if everyone in America was ready to sacrifice -- although unlike him I'd want the "poor" and middle-class to sacrifice, too, by being willing (and perhaps even required) to give something back for their subsidies and assistance.
The Tax Relief package is essentially a second stimulus bill and isn't tied in any way to deficit reduction. In fact the legislation is paid for entirely by raising future unspecified taxes, and adds $858 billion to the national debt.
Below you'll find the comments I got from my congressman.
Elsewhere on the web site today, I've posted the story of Dennis Ferguson, a man from South Carolina who took it upon himself to send a check to the State of California by way of "repaying with interest" the assistance he'd received years before, four months' worth of unemployment benefits, money that had helped him keep his head above water during a difficult time in his life.
The original "debt" was $1,100 .. and the "reimbursement" check was for $10,000.
Now THAT's in the true spirit of America!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Rep. Becerra: “We Can Do Much Better Than This Bill”
WASHINGTON, DC— This evening the House of Representatives voted on the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (H.R. 4853). Representative Xavier Becerra (CA-31), Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus, voted against the legislation and made the following remarks on the floor of the House before the vote:
“For more than 200 years, America has worked hard to earn a reputation around the world that when the going gets tough, America gets going.
We could lead in tough times… we could withstand adversity… we were prepared to sacrifice. As our country matured, we were prepared not only to do all those tough things but to do it the right way and we were able to somehow figure out where the sweet spot was for prosperity in America: building the middle class.
The GI bill for our troops… Social Security and Medicare for our seniors… the best universities for our kids. As we invested in the middle class our prosperity bloomed.
Fast forward to the Bush recession and the tough times we find ourselves in today. Americans are hanging tough, fighting to hold on to their jobs and their homes. But is everyone in America sharing in the sacrifice?
This proposal gives millionaires $139,000 in tax breaks each year. On top of that, it gives the 6,600 wealthiest Americans a tax break of $23 billion. But perhaps the most sinister provision of this proposal is the more than $100 billion that it diverts from the Social Security Trust Fund and borrows from places like China to replace those dollars.
Everyone in America is ready to sacrifice. Everyone in America should be ready to sacrifice. This bill doesn't ask all Americans to sacrifice. The day should come—as the days have come—when all of us are prepared to sacrifice.
This is not the bill, this is not the time, to change America's history of hanging tough. Let us all work together to pull together, to let everyone in the world know that we are prepared to sacrifice . . . that America's wealthy are ready to sacrifice as all Americans trying to hold on to their jobs and homes are prepared to sacrifice.
Let's do this together. We have that reputation. And we know how to do it. Adversity doesn't concern us. Let us pull together. We can do much better than this bill. It's our chance to prove it to America.” |
Click here to view video of Rep. Becerra's remarks |
