Rep. Schakowsky Statement on Republican Decision to Pull Out of Bipartisan Budget Talks

Washington, D.C. (Thursday, June 23, 2011) — Rep. Jan Schakowsky issued the following statement in reaction to news that Republican leadership has pulled out of deficit talks led by Vice President Joseph Biden:

 "Americans are not helped when Republicans walk away from the negotiating table because of their insistence that only spending cuts — not revenue increases — be on that table.  It should be clear to everyone that we cannot solve our fiscal problems through spending cuts alone.  And it is evident that by cutting  health care, education and research in their budget, Republicans are not speaking up for the middle class and those who aspire to join it.  Six months into Republican leadership in the House, they have offered no jobs plan to put Americans back to work and have refused to listen to the 81% of Americans who say we should change our tax code to ask the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share.  There is growing consensus around this issue and Congressional Republicans are exhibiting that they are alarmingly out of step.

"This month, I led a letter signed by 108 of my fellow House members to Speaker Boehner demanding that revenues must be on the table in any discussion addressing the deficit and our long-term fiscal challenges. The letter highlighted revenue increases that Americans support by wide margins: raising tax rates on millionaires and billionaires, ending subsidies for the oil and gas industry, and eliminating tax breaks for companies that ship American jobs overseas.  

"Despite a recession, the wealthy have seen their income rise significantly and have enjoyed the lowest tax rates in the last 50 years. Yet Republicans have proposed to expand tax cuts to the wealthy while the rest of Americans have had to cut back to put food on the table. This is not just an economic problem; income inequality undermines our democracy.  Just as opportunity disappears in America, so will our middle class.  We can solve our fiscal challenges without further burdening the struggling middle class, but not without raising revenue in a fair way....

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Contact: Adjoa Adofo, 202.225.2111

              adjoa.adofo@mail.house.gov