Chafee Defends Obama on Tax Cuts
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Governor-elect Lincoln Chafee issued a statement yesterday defending President Obama on the compromise he has reached with Congressional Republicans—extending the Bush tax cuts as well as unemployment benefits.
Chafee noted that he was an outspoken opponent of the tax cuts from the beginning.
“I recall how my former Republican colleagues, at a time when we had finally balanced our Federal budget and were enjoying surpluses, rushed to enact these ill-conceived tax cuts that favored the wealthy while at the same time launching a spending spree that has arguably led to a devastated national economy,” Chafee recalled.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHe blamed those tax cuts for turning record surpluses into record deficits—which, in turn, he said had led to the “present economic malaise.” The tax cuts, he said, was one reason he left the Republican Party.
He continued: “Last week, Congressional Republicans tried to repeat one of the most damaging mistakes in recent history as they sought to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. President Obama determined to use the situation as an opportunity to work for a greater, and far more immediate, good, in the extension of unemployment benefits. The president chose to trade a temporary extension of tax cuts for a 13-month extension of unemployment benefits, and in so doing he has assured millions of Americans continued – and badly needed – economic help during the worst economic climate our nation has faced since the Great Depression. And we will revisit the folly of the Bush tax cuts in two years’ time. That is why, in order to strengthen our economy and provide needed relief to middle class families, I urge Congress to act promptly and in a bipartisan fashion to pass this agreement.”
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