Rangel Slams Bush's 2009 Budget Proposals

by Leroy Baker, Tax-News.com, New York

07 February 2008

President Bush has missed his last opportunity to bring about meaningful and lasting reform to the US tax code with a budget that proposed "more of the same" tax cuts for the wealthy and spending cuts for essential entitlement programs, according to the senior House tax writer, Charles Rangel (D-NY).

"President Bush’s budget proposal is what we expected, but not what we need," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel commented in response to Bush's 2009 Budget proposals.

He continued: "Rather than embrace his last months in office as an opportunity for bipartisan achievements on critical areas such as tax reform, health care and economic security, President Bush’s budget offers more of the same – expensive tax cuts for the wealthy, devastating cuts to Medicare, erosion of employer-based health care, retirement benefits, Social Security privatization and cuts to other social services."

While Bush could have been remembered for bringing about much supported simplification of the US tax code, something he pledged early in his presidency, Rangel believes that the current administration’s legacy "will be written in red ink".

"In fact, this budget offers little or no mention of the pressing need to simplify our tax laws. Despite the attention the President gave this issue in the beginning of his term, we have not seen any concrete proposals or leadership on tax reform during Bush’s seven years in office. I would argue that it is not too late to do the right thing and reach out to Congress to begin serious discussions and restore equity and fairness to our tax code," Rangel stated.

"I have introduced a reform proposal that would cut taxes for more than 90 million lower- and middle-class families while also reducing the corporate tax rate to help keep our companies competitive internationally. I plan to continue this overdue discussion with hearings in the near future and I strongly urge this Administration to use its remaining time in office to be a partner, not a roadblock, toward establishing bipartisan consensus on tax reform," he added.

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