Judd Gregg

“ It is called human nature. When you set tax levels at a fair level--which is what we have today--people are willing to go out and invest. They are willing to go out and take risks. They are willing to work harder because they know they are going to get to keep more of what they earn. What does that do? That creates a stronger economy which puts more people to work, and that is what we want, more jobs for people and, of course, the more jobs you have the more tax revenues you end up getting. ”

“ What will that do to Federal revenues, that dramatic increase in taxes? What will that do to the economy? We are not sure, but we suspect it will slow the economy dramatically. Some of these great gains that we have seen in the economy, the 22 months of expansion, the 7.4 million new jobs, may be significantly impacted by that type of a tax increase. ”

“ Senior citizens disproportionately benefit from a low dividend tax rate. Why? It is logical, obviously. Most seniors are retired. If they have income, it is going to be Social Security, some pension program, or dividends, and most pension programs also involve dividends. So senior citizens are really the people who are benefitting the most from a low dividend tax rate. Yet the folks on the other side of the aisle have just passed a budget where they want to jump the tax rate on dividends by 100 percent. They want to go from a 15-percent tax rate to a 30-percent tax rate on dividends. ”

“ When they sell that asset, what happens? Two things which are very good for the Federal Government happen. No. 1, capital gains occur so we get revenues; otherwise, we would not get those revenues because people would just sit on those assets; they are not going to sell them and pay the high tax rate. When you have a fair tax rate, they sell them, the Federal Government gets the revenues, and the second thing that happens is they take that new money they have from the sale of that asset and reinvest it. By human nature, they reinvest it in something that is more productive. ”

“ The tax law--even though we are generating a lot more revenue for the Federal Government, even though we are well over that mean number of 18.2 percent of gross national product, even though we have had jumps in revenue of 11 percent, 9 percent, 15 percent--we actually have a tax law today that is generating more revenue but is also more progressive. High-income individuals are paying more of the tax burden. Low-income people are getting more money back from the Federal Government. ”

“ At the low end of the income scale, the bottom 40 percent of people who have income do not basically pay income taxes. Obviously, they pay withholding taxes, but as a practical matter that segment of our society pays virtually nothing in income taxes. They get money back, in fact, on the earned-income tax credit and other benefits the Federal Government puts in place. ”

“ In addition, especially in the area of capital gains, if you have a fair capital gains rate, which is what we have today, it causes people to go out and sell an investment which they might otherwise hold on to. ”

“ That is a philosophy that should and has been rejected as we move toward a much more market-oriented economy. It is also a philosophy that presumes the higher taxes always generate more revenue to the Federal Government, which is not true. ”

“ So they brought out a budget which is going to increase taxes on Americans by about $700 billion. It is the largest tax increase in the history of the country, should that budget actually come to fruition--and it looks like it is going to pass, and I assume they are going to follow up on it. ”

“ It is a theory that says you just raise taxes. The Federal Government will get more money, and we will spend it for you. In other words, there is a theory that says we are smarter than you. We have been elected to the Senate. ”

“ The rich are not paying enough taxes, and these tax laws are disproportionate in their application. I think we need to talk about that a little bit because let's see what has happened as a result of reducing these tax rates. ”

“ We are good members of the Democratic Party. We know more than you know. Therefore, we should take your money and we should spend it for you and we can spend it more effectively than you can spend it. ”