Blunt co-sponsoring bill for permanent tax cuts

According to U.S. Rep. Roy Blunt, it is "unreasonable and harmful" to individual taxpayers and the nation's economic health that recently approved tax cuts could be reversed in 10 years.

In a press conference with Springfield-area business leaders, Blunt explained that Senate rules mandate that the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, approved by Congress and signed by President Bush, expire in 10 years.

Blunt said steps should be taken to make the provisions of the $1.35 trillion tax relief package permanent. He and fellow Missouri Congressman Kenny Hulshof are cosponsoring House Bill 2316 to do just that.

Cuts' duration

"The tax cuts really do only go through 2011. Now 2011 is a long time, certainly by government standards, and by tax standards it's a long time, so you don't want to become overly pessimistic or concerned about that, Blunt said. "But the job of the Congress now, should be as soon as possible ... to get these tax cuts made as a permanent part of the Tax Code."

Blunt said the move could be made this year or in several years, but taxpayers shouldn't be too worried unless six or eight years pass without the tax cuts becoming a permanent part of the Tax Code.

Blunt said for politicians, there are a few things that need to be done immediately to further that goal.

"We (in the House of Representatives) are going to send a bill over to the Senate outside of this reconciliation rule, that I suppose could be filibustered ... but they probably would vote on it," Blunt said, noting that the bill would spur discussion of whether people would have to die by 2010 to avoid the death tax.

"You don't want 2010 to become the year of let's throw Mama from the train,' or something like that," Blunt said.

House leaders

Blunt said that if the Senate doesn't pass that bill, what he's arguing for with House leaders is that the House send the permanent tax cut bill to the Senate a piece at a time, which he said many in the Senate likely "would not be particularly excited about."

He said he "can't imagine" that at least part of the tax cut package won't be extended permanently this year.

"My guess is it's highly unlikely that any of this would be allowed to revert back, except for possibly some of the marginal rates, even if the Congress changed hands," he said, adding that if Congress's philosophy changes between now and 2011, it won't necessarily mean that Congress will want to reinstate the marriage penalty or other provisions in the tax-cut package.

Blunt said the new withholding tax tables already are out, and the new rates went into effect July 1, "so everybody's checks should be getting a little bit bigger."

Income tax rebate checks will be going out soon. The first round will be sent July 30, and the checks will be sent out to taxpayers each week based on the last two digits of the taxpayers' Social Security numbers. When there are two taxpayers on a tax return, the digits from the person listed first will be used to determine the week their check will be sent.

"Between the rebate checks, to a lesser extent the new deductions, and to a greater extent pretty quick action by the Federal Reserve on reducing interest rates, I think this may have been an economic slowdown that actually the response was quick enough on," Blunt said.

"Usually the interest rate cuts come too late and the tax relief never comes, and you just have to work out of what appears to be the warning signs of a worsening economy without any real help, or real incentives," he added.

Blunt said he thinks the biggest problem looming on the economic front is energy, and particularly the energy problems in California.

(The preceding article originally appeared in the July 3, 2001, issue of the SBJ Daily Update, a subscriber-only service.)