Schiff roundly endorses Obama’s State of the Union address
As President Obama wrapped up his third State of the Union address Tuesday evening, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) issued a statement endorsing the commander-in-chief’s challenge to update the nation’s tax code and raise rates on the super rich.
“As the president said, we must work to reduce our budget deficit and national debt – both through responsible spending cuts and by asking those who have prospered most over the last decade to help by paying a little more,” Schiff said.
Inequities in income and tax burdens were a central theme in Obama’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday. The points came after former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney disclosed that he pays about 15% in taxes on millions in earnings.
Obama pushed for a plan in which millionaires and billionaires would pay at least 30% -- more than the estimated overall 19.4%.
Combined with his calls to reign in piracy of American intellectual property overseas and efforts to reclaim jobs lost to companies abroad, Obama’s message sat well with Schiff, a longtime member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats.
In his statement, Schiff said that “now is the time to lay the foundation for sustained economic growth and a widening circle of prosperity by revitalizing American manufacturing, pursuing energy independence and investing more in the education and training of American workers.”
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-- Jason Wells, Times Community News
Twitter: @JasonBretWells
Photo: President Obama appears before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday in his third State of the Union address. Credit: Michael Reynolds/EPA