House Whip Eric Cantor Republican Weekly Address 04/17/10 VIDEO PODCAST TEXT TRANSCRIPT

House Whip Eric Cantor Republican Weekly Address 04/17/10 VIDEO PODCAST TEXT TRANSCRIPT

Download MP3 for PODCAST “Hello. I’m House Republican Whip Eric Cantor and I have the great privilege of representing the hardworking people of Virginia’s 7th District.

“This week, Americans from coast to coast sent their tax payments to Washington. Your government continues to spend more and more, and that means your taxes are more and more. This has to stop – and you can help stop it.

“The challenges and situations faced by families, small business people, and young workers have no doubt made this tax day particularly painful. But as painful as it was, the truth is that the actions taken by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Obama Administration are going to make the ‘tax days’ of the future much much worse.

“President Obama has signed 25 tax increases passed by the Democratically controlled Congress into law that will cost families and small business people more than $670 billion over the next 10 years. Many of these break the President’s campaign promise not to raise taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year. In the House, Speaker Pelosi and her majority have passed legislation that would result in more than a trillion – that’s with a T – dollars in net tax increases.

“But tax increases are the symptom. Runaway spending is Washington’s disease.

“The Democrats control every lever of power in Washington and they’ve never met a tax they didn’t like or found a dollar they couldn’t spend. Their economic plan? You pay, they spend, your children owe. You deserve better.

“Speaking of your children, the deficits left in the wake of President Obama's agenda now stand at $1.5 trillion and will add $11 trillion to our national debt over the next 10 years. One non-partisan study reveals that to keep up with this spending, the government would have to find about half a trillion dollars each year in new revenue. That means that the tax rates on families earning slightly more than $200,000 would skyrocket to well over 70 percent.

“That’s right, 70 PERCENT!

“Democrats have already made clear that more tax increases on income, capital gains and dividends are on the way. Some, including the President himself, refer to this as letting the “Bush tax cuts” expire. But no matter how he spins it, it means you’ll be paying more and more. At the end of this year, Americans will face the ‘Obama tax increase,’ and it will be the largest in history. As if that wasn’t enough, others, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Obama Economic Advisor Paul Volcker support a European-style value-added tax (VAT).

“Higher taxes, reckless deficits, unsustainable debt and a bleak future for our kids and grandkids. We must not leave our children a country more in debt and worse off than we found it. It is our moral obligation to act now to put a stop to this.

“America is at a critical point of decision making. We are a nation at a crossroads. It is up to each of us to determine what kind of country we want to be.

“Down one path is the Democrats’ a trillion dollar health care overhaul, a stimulus law that failed to meet expectations for job creation, the taxpayer funded bailouts of private companies, and a cap-and-trade policy that will impose a massive energy tax upon all Americans. All are costly policies that seize more control over the economy and of our lives. The goal? To remake America in the image of Europe.

“But take hope. Down the other path is responsible, adult leadership, focused firmly on job creation and economic opportunity. We believe in a Congress that will once again listen to the people and return America to the country they know and love. We believe in a limited but effective government that provides a safety net for those who need it most, but sets no limits on opportunity or achievement. We believe that it’s not enough just to talk about ending government waste. You have to take action so that we can begin to erase our deficits and free our children from our debt. And rather than putting the squeeze on our nation’s job creators and entrepreneurs, we believe in a pro-growth strategy to create jobs and empower the American entrepreneur and small business people to thrive.

“This is our choice.

“I’m Eric Cantor, and on behalf of my Republican colleagues, please know that we hear your concerns and we’ll work hard to get Washington working for you once again. Thank you.”