March 22, 2013

Ms. Pamela Harris

2 Dragon Hill Place

The Woodlands, TX 77381-4377

Dear Ms. Harris:

Thank you for contacting me about your concerns with the “fiscal cliff”. I’m glad to hear from you. I would like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts and provide an update on the final passage of H.R. 8 – The American Taxpayer Relief Act which averted this cliff while permanently lowering tax rates for millions of Americans.

First, let me be absolutely clear – this Senate bill was not the bill I or other conservatives in the House would have written. However, you did not send me to Congress to take easy votes and I am committed to handling the issues responsibly and with due diligence.

As the New Year’s Eve ball dropped on January 1st, the Bush tax cuts on income, capital gains, and dividends expired for all Americans, which then raised taxes on the average family in the Eighth District of Texas by nearly $3,600 a year. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that these actions would push the economy back into a recession and send unemployment soaring at the end of year.

As a member of the Ways & Means Committee I led the successful fight to enact the temporary Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003. For the last 11 years, I have tirelessly fought, along with other conservatives, to make these lower tax rates permanent for all Americans. It is my belief that your hard earned money is rightfully yours and my job is to keep the government from taking more and more of what you earn.

The bill we passed permanently lowers taxes for millions of American families and small businesses while also stopping the President’s efforts to give Congress a pay raise. The bill also ends the threat of the Alternative Minimum Tax expanding to hit more than 31 million Texans, permanently extends the marriage penalty relief and the child tax relief act, and permanently protects most of our family owned farms and small businesses from the immoral Death Tax. (See Figure 1 on the The American Taxpayer Relief Act: Distribution of Tax Cuts Chart attached)

The bottom line: cutting taxes by $3.6 trillion dollars and keeping them permanently low matters to hard working Americans. With the passage of this bill, we made 85% of the Bush tax cuts permanent which protects 99.3% of all Americans from suffering a tax increase going forward. At the same time, we were able to permanently stop the Alternative Minimum Tax from capturing millions of middle class families and exempted most family owned farms and businesses from the Death Tax, a goal of conservatives and President Ronald Reagan. (See Figure 2 on Tax Cuts vs. Spending in The American Taxpayer Relief Act)

While the bill sent over from the Senate had overwhelming Republican and Democrat support, it was disappointing that it didn’t include meaningful spending cuts and it did not protect the tax rates for all American taxpayers. The bill did however deny the President and Senate Democrats over $1.6 trillion in new tax money to spend, it denied Democrats $50 billion more in new stimulus spending, and it denied the President’s demand for permanently increasing the debt ceiling. (See Figure 3 on the Fiscal Cliff Scorecard)

The “Fiscal Cliff” was averted, but we cannot forget that Washington’s unsustainable spending got us here in the first place. The national debt has surpassed $16 trillion; Washington cannot continue to spend more than it is taking in. And contrary to what President Obama and Senate Democrats think, tax increases alone cannot eliminate the debt. The right “balance” is strong economic growth and spending restraint.

Washington must deal with these unsustainable levels of spending. Unfortunately, this now includes Social Security and Medicare. At current spending, parts of Social Security will go bankrupt in three years and parts of Medicare will go bankrupt in 10 short years. I want to preserve these programs for future generations and the only way to save these programs is to reform them now. I will continue to work with members of both parties on reforms that can save these important programs for our kids and grandkids.

Once again, thank you for sharing your views. If I may be of assistance in the future, please do not hesitate to contact me. If you want to stay updated on this issue, or any of the other important issues facing Congress, please sign up for my newsletter on my home page at www.kevinbrady.house.gov or follow me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/KevinBrady.

Sincerely,

Kevin Brady
U.S. Representative
8th District of Texas