GOP Urges ‘Financial Independence’
Pushing a $1-trillion tax cut proposal, the Republican Party marked the Fourth of July holiday Saturday by calling for “financial independence” for America’s families.
“For too long, you’ve been asked to sacrifice so that Washington could supposedly do more,” Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) said in the party’s weekly radio address.
House Republicans have said that the federal budget surplus is so huge that Congress can cut taxes by nearly $1 trillion and still ensure that Social Security and Medicare will be in place for baby boomer retirements.
Democrats and some Republicans have said that the surplus should first be used to increase spending on education and other programs, once Medicare and Social Security are safeguarded and the national debt is erased.
A tax package to be written by the GOP-controlled House Ways and Means Committee will include reduction of the “marriage penalty,” which causes many married Americans to pay more than they would if each partner were single and filed separately; an end to the federal inheritance tax; and safeguards so that Americans do not pay a penalty for investing and seniors do not suffer for working past age 65, Hayworth said.
“Our common-sense majority in Congress wants to declare financial independence for America’s families,” said Hayworth.
A Ways and Means member, Hayworth criticized President Clinton’s plan to provide a prescription drug benefit to Medicare recipients.
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