I am supportive of an economic growth and job creation package that includes:

Tax Cuts Across the Board

Tax Cuts Across the Board - We must ensure that tax relief extends to all Americans, not just a few wealthy families.  I support the expansion of the ten percent income tax bracket, which gives every working American a tax cut.  I also support easing the marriage penalty.  In addition, I supported legislation that passed into law that makes additional low-income working families eligible for the child tax credit, including the 23,000 families in Rhode Island left behind under the previous law.

Alternative Minimum Tax

The alternative minimum tax (AMT) for individuals was originally enacted to ensure that all taxpayers, especially high-income taxpayers, paid at least a minimum amount of federal taxes.  However, unlike income taxes, the AMT was not indexed for inflation, which means that without a legislative fix, more and more middle-class taxpayers will be affected by the AMT in the near future.  In 2005, about 3.6 million taxpayers nationwide were subject to the AMT, AMT, but this year, 22 million taxpayers could be subject to this tax.  That is why I supported legislation passed into law that will prevent the AMT from affecting more than 95,000 Rhode Islanders in the 2008 tax year.  I will continue to work with my colleagues to implement a permanent solution to this problem.

Investment Tax Incentives for Businesses

To improve our economy, we need to offer incentives to encourage investment and create new jobs.  That is why I supported the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act that included the extension of many expiring tax benefits, including a research and development tax credit and a 15 year write-off period for improvements to restaurants and retail shops.  This legislation also included renewable energy tax credits, which is important for the development of new “green” collar jobs in Rhode Island.

Education Investments

The best way to ensure the continued economic strength of America is to provide our children with a top notch education.  I have opposed the President Bush's efforts to eliminate education and training programs like Even Start family literacy, Perkins Loans, Vocational Education State Grants, and teacher quality improvement initiatives.  I have also fought for full funding of the No Child Left Behind law, to give our schools the resources necessary to prepare the next generation for jobs in the 21st century.  Failure to invest in our children will decrease Americans’ competitiveness as the economy becomes increasingly global.

Maintain Fiscal Discipline

The best way to improve the economy is to stop throwing away taxpayer money by paying interest on the national debt.  Americans cannot spend more than they earn, and neither should Congress.  To this end, Congress has reinstated pay-as-you-go rules to block new tax cuts or spending legislation that requires additional borrowing.  These rules led to balanced budgets during the late 1990s, but with record deficits today, we need to get back on track to balance our budget.  I would like to see balanced budgets within the next fiver years and will continue working with my Democratic colleagues meet this goal in a responsible way.

I am committed to ensuring that Congress focuses on common-sense legislation to address job creation and tax cuts that help all Americans, not just the wealthiest.  I will continue my efforts to craft policies that continue American prosperity by growing the economy with long-term fiscal discipline in mind.

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