McKinney - News Briefs

"I agree with Bob Dornan, ‘Newt Gingrich is a disaster for the Republicans’ and for this country!".

(Washington) - Today Republican tax demagoguery spiraled out of control when the House passed the Tax Code Termination Act by a 219 - 209 vote. This bill will abolish the income tax code by the year 2003 without offering any plan for replacement. “This election year gimmick is irresponsible and serves to benefit the wealthiest of Americans, while eliminating the parts of the tax code that are important to middle-class working families, such as the mortgage interest and childcare deductions,” said McKinney. “I agree with Bob Dornan, ‘Newt Gingrich is a disaster for the Republicans’ and for this country,” McKinney continued.

The 219 - 209 vote came after Democrats valiantly argued against the proposal. “Democrats have been working on responsible tax reform that benefits American working families. We have been calling for a responsible bipartisan tax reform that will make the tax code fairer and simpler, but today we get this very partisan, veiled appeal to the Republican party’s radical right wing,” continued McKinney

In 1997, a bipartisan congressional commission developed a plan to improve the management at the IRS, simplify the tax code, and give tax payers new rights. “The Republican leadership has blocked this bill from seeing the light of day. They weren’t satisfied just shutting the government down; now, they want to shut the whole country down!” McKinney concluded.