Health & Fitness
Congress: Losing the Popularity Contest for Good Reason
It's no wonder that the 112th Congress has the lowest approval rating of any congressional class in history. Rep. Tim Murphy and Republicans just voted to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
In an act of pure gutlessness, last week the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives voted to keep the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, despite the fact that they have created exactly ZERO jobs in the last 11 years.
The Senate has already voted to extend tax cuts for 98% of Americans and 97% of small businesses. The only thing standing in the way of middle class tax breaks are House Republicans who are still refusing to end the Bush tax cuts for the richest 2%.
Find out what's happening in Dormont-Brooklinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
It’s no wonder that the 112th Congress has the lowest approval rating of any congressional class in U.S. history! Unfortunately, Rep. Tim Murphy did nothing to better that opinion when he voted in lock step with Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.
Find out what's happening in Dormont-Brooklinewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would add $1 trillion to the deficit over the next ten years. What does this mean for PA? Throwing $1 trillion dollars down the drain means more cuts to education, transportation and health care for seniors in our already cash-strapped Commonwealth.
PA working families understand that you don’t get something for nothing. More tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% would mean more cuts for the rest of us, including:
- A loss of $1.5 billion for PA Highway Planning and Construction
- A loss of $565 million for K-12 education in PA
- A loss of $262.6 million for Head Start in PA
- $82.3 million that will not be spent to make our drinking water safer for our children.
- $9.7 million less for meals on wheels programs that 30,725 PA seniors need to survive.
The Bush tax cuts are a luxury Pennsylvania simply cannot afford right now. Middle class families are feeling the pinch every day. Here in the Pittsburgh-area the looming threat of Port Authority cuts could immobilize thousands. If Rep. Tim Murphy had stood with 98% of his constituents and voted to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, PA would have $1.5 billion more for Highway Planning and Construction. This is no time to slash desperately needed federal funding so that we can give more tax breaks to the wealthiest 2%.
Unless the super wealthy plan on giving us all a lift to work on their yachts, the time has come to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.