ICYMI: Roskam at National Journal Policy Summit on Fiscal Cliff and Tax Reform
Posted on 10/17/2012 at 04:01 PM
Press Release:
Excerpt: "Washington, DC—Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) joined the National Journal Policy Summit, “On the Edge: Navigating America's Looming Fiscal Cliff” where he addressed the fiscal challenges facing the U.S. and Republican solutions for preventing the fiscal cliff"
Washington, DC—Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-06) joined the National Journal Policy Summit, “On the Edge: Navigating America's Looming Fiscal Cliff” where he addressed the fiscal challenges facing the U.S. and Republican solutions for preventing the fiscal cliff:
Roskam on Tax Hikes Hitting Small Businesses
“I think there's a very strong argument that look, particularly as it relates to pass-throughs, if you raise these taxes at the individual level, we’ve got manufacturers out in suburban Chicago that I represent…and it's going to have an adverse impact on their willingness to take on more risk, take on more employees and to do the type of expansion that everybody recognizes is necessary. So there's a false argument that’s out there that says this is somehow cutting taxes. No, it's not cutting taxes on anybody. Right now we are trying to avert the largest tax increase in American history.”
Roskam on Generating Revenue Without Raising Taxes
“But somehow this notion that the only way to get more revenue for the federal government is by raising taxes, is a choice that we don't think is robust, and historically it has been one that people have come to only reluctantly. And so we're saying, ‘Look, good news, if we both agree there's reluctance to raise taxes, then let's not go there as the first place and let's explore every other equal opportunity.’ We think there is an opportunity to look at this growth model.”
Roskam on Comprehensive Tax Reform
“There's nobody, there is no voice today that is out defending the status quo as relates to the current tax code. So if you take that attitude and you look now at what the Ways and Means Committee has done over the past 18 months; Dave Camp gaveled together a series of meetings and hearings and a wide ranging discussion. And if you were to distill down into a single word, the theme of those hearings…that is competitiveness.”
Coverage of the Forum…
Dems and GOP Agree, Government Needs More Money National Journal, 10/16/12
“The federal government needs more money. That's one thing both parties can agree on, Republican and Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday. The rub, of course, is how to get it.
“Reps. Peter Roskam, R-Ill., and Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa. said at a National Journal panel on Tuesday morning that there's no question that more revenue is needed. Democrats say they can raise the money by letting upper-income tax cuts expire, while Republicans say economic growth alone will help raise the cash.”
Fate of Fiscal Cliff Turns on the Election The Fiscal Times, 10/17/12
“Hours before President Obama and former governor Mitt Romney held their second crucial debate last night, a Democratic and Republican lawmaker squared off in their own mini-debate on how to handle the massive spending cuts and tax hikes that are set to kick in early next year unless Congress and the president intervene.”
GOP Open to New Revenues, But Two Parties Remain Miles Apart Defense News, 10/16/12
“Rep. Peter Roskam, Ill., House Republican chief deputy whip, told a forum in Washington that it is a ‘false premise that says we don’t need more revenue.’
“Roskam said that Romney, during his first head-to-head debate with President Barack Obama earlier this month, ‘debunked’ the notion that Republicans are opposed to any new federal revenue. The party’s evolving stance, as described by Romney, is ‘more revenues through growth,’ Roskam said.”
Election Will Determine Fiscal Cliff Solution, Say Lawmakers Market Watch, 10/16/12
“’It is my hope that we can forgo the drama around the fiscal cliff, that we can move those sequestration alternatives of what the House has done, that we can bridge and extend the rates for another year and move this debate into tax reform,’ Roskam said. ‘But the Nov. 6 election is going to be incredibly consequential in terms of the energy that comes out of the election and the trajectory of what the public wants.’”
###