The Official Truth Squad
Floor Speech
THE OFFICIAL TRUTH SQUAD -- (House of Representatives - May 15, 2007)
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman so very much. I am pleased that we are talking about the issue that so many Americans are talking about right now, and that is the energy needs of our country.
One thing that you touched on, I think, that is just so vitally important to see, the solutions that we work toward are going to be American solutions, and it is not going to be something that is simple, or you can't change it with the stroke of a pen. This is something we are going to have to work our way out of, things we can do right now. Right now, through conservation efforts, things that we can do over the next decade, through exploration, through the innovation, things that we can work over the next 25, 30 years toward, as we look at diversification of our supplies, and commercialization of new technologies and new forms of fuel.
But the thing is, when you look at all of that diversity, and having a wide, broad answer, a sustainable American energy policy, we know, it is American solutions that will lead us to being free of the influx of foreign oil and foreign energy sources into our country. I think that what we have to do is look at the steps we are going to take over the next couple of years and the next couple of decades as being more or less next level steps to the building blocks that we have put in place.
Our party has had a tremendously strong record of conservation. You can go back to Teddy Roosevelt and look at the efforts that he had toward conserving this Nation's natural resources and the legacy that was put in place there, and how we have moved forward through the decades now to where we look at our environment and energy and, say, you know, we passed a good bill in 2005. It brought forward, moved forward, a lot of our alternative energy sources, our renewable resources, and allowed for additional exploration of those natural resources that we have here.
Now it is time for us to push it a little bit further down the pike. That's what the American people want to see. They know that fuel prices are high. They understand that. They know that our electricity use is going to increase over the next couple of decades. They understand that. They accept that.
What they want us to do is to get the costs down, to be certain that we have access to an ample supply of affordable energy.
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. I thank the gentleman so very much. I am pleased that we are talking about the issue that so many Americans are talking about right now, and that is the energy needs of our country.
One thing that you touched on, I think, that is just so vitally important to see, the solutions that we work toward are going to be American solutions, and it is not going to be something that is simple, or you can't change it with the stroke of a pen. This is something we are going to have to work our way out of, things we can do right now. Right now, through conservation efforts, things that we can do over the next decade, through exploration, through the innovation, things that we can work over the next 25, 30 years toward, as we look at diversification of our supplies, and commercialization of new technologies and new forms of fuel.
But the thing is, when you look at all of that diversity, and having a wide, broad answer, a sustainable American energy policy, we know, it is American solutions that will lead us to being free of the influx of foreign oil and foreign energy sources into our country. I think that what we have to do is look at the steps we are going to take over the next couple of years and the next couple of decades as being more or less next level steps to the building blocks that we have put in place.
Our party has had a tremendously strong record of conservation. You can go back to Teddy Roosevelt and look at the efforts that he had toward conserving this Nation's natural resources and the legacy that was put in place there, and how we have moved forward through the decades now to where we look at our environment and energy and, say, you know, we passed a good bill in 2005. It brought forward, moved forward, a lot of our alternative energy sources, our renewable resources, and allowed for additional exploration of those natural resources that we have here.
Now it is time for us to push it a little bit further down the pike. That's what the American people want to see. They know that fuel prices are high. They understand that. They know that our electricity use is going to increase over the next couple of decades. They understand that. They accept that.
What they want us to do is to get the costs down, to be certain that we have access to an ample supply of affordable energy.
Mr. PRICE of Georgia. Will the gentlelady yield?
Mrs. BLACKBURN. Indeed, I will.
Mr. PRICE of Georgia. I appreciate you bringing up the issue of the largest tax increase in American history that was passed by this majority on this floor. And folks at home say, well that can't be true. That just can't be true. We can't allow that to happen. What are they doing?
And what they're doing is displayed in this chart right here, as you well know, because all of these tax rates, all of these tax rates, given the budget that has been adopted by this House, will increase to significant levels in relatively short order. Ordinary income going from the top rate of 35 percent to 39.6, capital gains going from 15 percent to 20 percent, dividends going from 15 percent to 39.6 percent, estate tax goes from 0 percent in 2010 to 55 percent. That's the death tax. It goes to 55 percent in 2011. The child tax credit cut in half. And the lowest tax bracket, amazingly enough, goes from 10 to 15 percent, which is a 50 percent increase.
Mrs. BLACKBURN. If the gentleman would yield, that is their projections for right now. We are just a few months into the new majority, and it took them just a couple of days to increase regulations and increase spending. It took them a couple of months to start raising taxes, and look at where they've gotten. They already are spending so much more than they should be that at this point this is where they are. And we haven't even gotten through the first year of this.
We haven't even gotten through the first budget. And we would see those rates on ordinary income tax go from 35 to 39.6 percent on January 1, 2011. That's 1/1/11. And that is when they would raise that. We would see that child tax credit cut in half. We would see cap gains go back up, and we're just a few months into this. This is the Hold on to Your Wallet Congress, and I would recommend that people hold on to that wallet because they want to get their hand on your pay check. And I yield back.
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