Dorgan  March 20, 2001
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/r107query.html
TAXES, THE ECONOMY AND THE FUTURE -- (Senate - March 20, 2001)
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Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, after nearly a decade of economic growth, historic gains in productivity and reining in the Federal budget deficits, Congress is now considering enacting a tax
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cut. I support a tax cut. And I think it should be retroactive to January 1 of this year to provide a needed boost to our economy.
Cutting taxes now will be helpful both to individual taxpayers and to our economy. But we also need to use some of the expected available surplus to pay down our Federal debt. If a country runs up a debt during tough times, it should pay it down during good times. And some of the surplus should be used to do other important things like improve our schools, provide emergency help to family farmers, and help the elderly afford prescription drug costs.
There is an effort by some to frame this tax cut debate in terms of whether one supports the President. But it is not about who we support. Rather, it's about what we support. What kind of a tax cut should we enact and how large should it be?
Here's what I think we should do:
One, enact the income tax cut in phases. The projected 10 year budget surpluses are just that, projections, and are not at all certain. Therefore we should be conservative. Enact the first phase of the tax cut now, and make it retroactive to January 1. In 2 years, if our economy is still producing the expected surpluses, add to the tax cut.
Two, cut income tax rates and do it in a way that provides fair tax cuts for all tax brackets.
Three, eliminate the marriage tax penalty in the income tax code.
Four, simplify filing requirements by allowing ``return free filing'' for up to 70 million Americans.
Five, totally exempt all family farms and family businesses from the estate tax and increase the estate tax exemption to two million dollars for all estates--$4 million for married couples.
Six, add a tax credit for investments that are made in rural States, where there is out-migration of people. We should use this opportunity to use tax cuts to stimulate new jobs and economic growth in rural states that have been left behind.
Here are some of the major issues that we must consider as we enact this tax cut.
The President's plan assumes we will have budget surpluses for the next 10 years. I hope that is the case, but with the current slowdown in our economy, we ought to be cautious. Economic forecasts are no more reliable than weather forecasts. If we lock in a large tax cut and then do not get the expected surpluses, we will once again put our country in financial trouble.
One of the major priorities for using the surplus should be to pay down the Federal debt. It grew by trillions in the 80s and early 90s. Now we have the opportunity and an obligation to use part of these surpluses to pay down that debt.
Our Government collects about $1 trillion in personal income taxes and about $650 billion in payroll taxes from individuals each year. The top 1 percent of all income earners in the U.S. pay 21 percent of all taxes, but under the President's plan they would receive 43 percent of the tax cut. That's not fair. We should make changes to the President's plan to provide a larger share of the tax cuts to working families.
A tax cut is a priority, but so too is fixing our schools, helping family farmers through tough times, dealing with the high prices of prescription drugs, and strengthening Medicare and Social Security. Yes, surpluses need to be used to cut taxes and reduce the debt, but some should be used to address other urgent needs that improve our country.
This debate is larger and more important than partisan politics. And these decisions are bigger than whether the Congress is supporting a new President.
Our country works best when we think ahead and think together. That is what we need to do on this issue.
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