Fitzpatrick, Murphy at odds over tax cuts
While members of his party seem reluctant to let taxes go up, even on the wealthiest Americans, Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy said the Bush administration tax cuts should end for the country’s top earners.
“We cannot afford it for the Paris Hiltons of the world,” Murphy said Tuesday in a meeting with the newspaper’s editorial board. “It’s an important contrast that I have with my opponent.”
Mike Fitzpatrick, challenging Murphy for the 8th District congressional seat he used to hold, takes an opposing view.
“I would send an unequivocal, clear message to American small-business persons that the current tax rates for everybody will remain in place so they can begin investing in American jobs,” Fitzpatrick, a Republican, said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Patrick Murphy is sending the wrong message. He is telling job creators that their taxes are going up, and in a recession, that’s the wrong message. It’s a job killer.”
Fitzpatrick received some good news Tuesday. According to Politico, the National Republican Congressional Committee is expanding its TV ad campaign to four more districts, including the 8th. It plans to spend $2 million in the four contests, reflecting its increasing confidence about potential gains this fall.
In each of the districts, the NRCC is providing an infusion of resources for Republican challengers who face steep cash disadvantages. Fitzpatrick’s campaign coffers are about $1.1 million lighter than Murphy’s.
The tax cut issue is one where voters have a contrast between the candidates.
Murphy, like the White House, wants to make the tax cuts permanent for middle- and low-income families while allowing them to expire for individuals making more than $200,000 and married couples making more than $250,000. He said even if the tax cuts elapse for the top 2 percent of Americans, that group would still be paying a lower percentage than they did under President Ronald Reagan.
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But many Democrats, worried about the fragile economy and their own upcoming elections, are joining Republicans in opposing President Barack Obama’s plans to let some of the Bush tax cuts to expire.
In a press release this week, Fitzpatrick pointed to a statement by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen, who said consideration of at least a temporary extension of all the tax cuts set to expire was “in the mix” as a way to spur economic recovery.
The most sweeping tax cuts in a generation are due to expire in January, and that’s setting up a showdown when lawmakers return from their summer vacations this month. By waiting to act on the tax cuts until just before the congressional elections in November, Democratic leaders have raised the stakes, politically and for taxpayers.
If Congress fails to act – a possibility given the gridlock that has gripped the Senate – workers at every income level would face significant tax increases next year.
Taxpayers making between $40,000 and $50,000 a year would get hit with an average income tax increase of $923 next year. Those making between $50,000 and $75,000 would face an average increase of $1,126, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation.
The tax cuts were enacted in 2001 and 2003 under President George W. Bush. They provided help for both rich and poor, reducing the lowest marginal rates as well as the top ones and several in between. They also provided a wide range of income tax breaks for education, families with children and married couples.
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