CONGRESSMAN REED VOTES IN FAVOR OF MIDDLE CLASS TAX RELIEF AND JOB CREATION ACT

Congressman Tom Reed voted this evening in favor of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, which passed the House by a bipartisan vote of  234-193.  The bill extends current payroll tax rates, mitigates the threat to Social Security posed by other payroll tax proposals, and encourages private sector job creation.

“We need to be talking about real solutions, not short-term gimmicks designed to divide the nation and win votes,” Reed said. “This is a real solution for hardworking taxpayers.”

The bill calls for the Keystone XL energy pipeline project to move forward creating 20,000 jobs and reducing dependence on Middle East crude.  “If the Senate and the President truly care about creating jobs, they can do so immediately by passing this bill,” Reed declared. “This act is really a jobs bill.”

“Now is not the time to take more money out of taxpayers’ pockets to feed the spending beast in Washington,” Reed continued. “This bill extends the current payroll tax rates without raising other taxes.”

Reed also re-affirmed his commitment to preserving Social Security and Medicare, which are funded through payroll taxes.  “Ten thousand new people qualify for these programs every day, but we are not adding ten thousand new payroll workers every day. We need to be very careful about pursuing policies that ultimately do more harm than good, including potentially hastening the financial collapse of these vital programs upon which so many seniors rely.”

The legislation protects the Social Security trust fund by freezing pay for government workers, including members of Congress, reforming programs that are riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse, and reducing subsidies for the wealthy.

It also embraces President Obama’s proposal to gradually reduce the number of weeks that Unemployment Insurance recipients can receive benefits and gives states the option to test recipients for drug abuse.

The bill now moves on to the Senate for a vote along with the 23 other jobs-related bills passed by the House which the Senate has ignored thus far.