Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Florida Legislator Ginny Brown-Waite On Obama's Budget : Tax Everyone AND Everything

This letter is from Congresswoman Ginny Grown Waite in response to an inquiry about Obama's budget - She is a Democrat no less. (Correction - Ginny is a Republican, sorry for the slip up) but which does make sense from the content of her letter)

Keep the faith - there is 'real' hope for us yet in the battle to save our country!


Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite [mailto:fl05ima.pub@mail.house.gov]

Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I appreciate the time you took to contact my office on this important issue and welcome the opportunity to respond.

President Obama's budget proposal is simply that - a proposal. It is the beginning of the budget process, not the end. While the law requires the President to submit a budget to Congress, the law does not bind Congress by the President's budget. Moreover, through Congress' own discretion, it may adopt legislation in the Congressional Budget for FY 10 reflecting different priorities than those of the President. This Congressional Budget does not carry the weight of law; therefore, it does not bind committees of Congress to any specific program choices.

With that said, I find many parts of President Obama's budget proposal troubling. The first and most disconcerting item has to be the massive tax increases President Obama has recommended. Unlike what many of my Democrat colleagues are telling the American people, President Obama's budget contains tax increases on every American including over 3 million small businesses. These taxes are hidden by using language like Cap and Trade when it should really be called "Cap and Tax." This proposal will tax anyone who uses electricity in the . President Obama's economic advisors have admitted that the budget proposal is misleading and that just when they expect the economy to recover, President Obama plans on instituting a $1 trillion to $2 trillion tax on all Americans who use electricity.

Another misguided tax increase contained in President Obama's budget proposal is an attempt to reduce the extent to which some Americans may take itemized deductions on charitable donations. The administration estimates the reduction will yield $318 billion in revenue over 10 years. This will discourage charitable giving at a time when charities are seeing a rise in the demand for their services because of the struggling economy. President Obama's budget makes clear that he favors a massive expansion of the entitlement state in which the federal government will take the place of private charities.

Beyond the massive tax increases, President Obama's budget proposal also contains cuts to the popular Medicare Advantage program; means testing for Medicare Part D in order to push more seniors out of the prescription plan; and a cut of $10 billion in funding for the Department of Homeland Security so that he can increase the budget of the State Department by $10 billion. While the economy continues to struggle, giving the State Department more money to send overseas hardly seems like an effective use of tax dollars.

President Obama's budget is rife with class warfare and wealth redistribution. This is hardly what the American public expected when on the campaign trail President Obama promised "change". This budget proposal represents the failed ideology of past Democrat administrations and a reliance on big government that we haven't seen since former President Jimmy Carter.

As I said at the outset of this letter, President Obama's budget proposal is simply that - a proposal. Where I can work with President Obama I will, but I will not compromise the well being of the and our system of governance that has worked for over 200 years just too simply get a long. As new member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, I will fight to keep these crippling tax increases from becoming law and prevent President Obama's massive expansion of the federal government.

Throughout my tenure in public service, I have always kept an open door and an open dialogue with my constituents. As Congress addresses the many challenges facing our nation, I hope you will continue to share your thoughts and views with me. Accordingly, I encourage you to visit my Web site at http://brown-waite.house.gov/ to email me and find useful information about our 5th Congressional District.

It is my honor and privilege to serve the people of 's 5th Congressional District and my offices and staff are here to provide you with any assistance you may need.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Ginny Brown-Waite is NOT a Democrat, she is a Republican. I am currently running against her in the 2010 election. My name is Jim Piccillo and I have been opposed to many of the posturing that the Congresswoman tries to stump on.
Ever since 2002 she has been a George Bush crony, even to the point of having Dick Cheney one of her rallies in 2002 saying "We need you to send Ginny Brown-Waite to Washington to help us!"
She is the personification of some of the worst things wrong with our federal government. She is out of touch, out of ideas and out of time.

The Slickster! said...

Thanks for the letter Jim - you are correct in that she is a Republican and not a Democrat - my source was confused and I have corrected that but to her favor having Dick Cheney on her team is good thing - he is a man of his word with lots of experience - on the other hand I don't see many Democrats in this congress that have shown much leadership or experience other than how to craft Ear Marks or crush us all with debt. Just a thought to consider.