Read more

Outside of the White House today, Speak Pelosi claimed that Republican voices have been heard in the  discussion of the House Democrat's trillion-dollar spending bill. Majority Leader Hoyer went as far as to say, “This week, the Appropriations, Ways and Means, and Energy and Commerce Committees held markups on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to include important feedback… Read more

OPENING STATEMENT OF RANKING MEMBER DAVE CAMP MARKUP OF H.R. 598 – ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL JANUARY 22, 2009 (REMARKS AS PREPARED) Mr. Chairman, Families all across this nation are rightly worried about what tomorrow will bring.  Our economy is in a recession; the credit markets remain seized up; and additional job losses are predicted for the near future and for some time to come if… Read more

  The head of the Senate Budget Committee said he doubts President-elect Barack Obama’s $825 billion economic stimulus package will create as many jobs as promised because it won’t do enough to unlock credit markets. Senator Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, said his committee projects the plan will reduce the unemployment rate by “maybe” 1 percent, or about half of the 3 million… Read more

A 2006 Joint Economic Committee (JEC) study found that death tax "liabilities depend on the skill of the estate planner, rather than on capacity to pay." So much for tax fairness. By contrast, "family-run firms and farms particularly feel the pinch of the estate tax, because they are less likely to have the liquid resources needed to meet their estate tax liabilities." The latest JEC estimate is that the death tax has reduced the stock of capital in the economy by about $847 billion. Read more

Ways & Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) issued the following statement today after the subcommittee assignments were announced for the 111th Congress: "I congratulate the new additions to each of the subcommittees, " said Camp.  "The 111th Congress will take on a long to-do list of issues facing our country and the Ways and Means Subcommittees will play a central role in… Read more

The current debate has been marked by calls to “improve” the distribution of incomes in the U.S. by “spreading the wealth.”  Policies proposed to do so include: (1) raising taxes on “the rich,” and (2) increasing benefits (including “tax relief for non-taxpayers”) for lower-income households.  Often lost is a detailed understanding of who is at the top and the bottom of the… Read more

(REMARKS AS PREPARED) I thank the Ranking Member for yielding time.  I am pleased that this Committee has chosen to exercise its jurisdictional right to extend the range of taxes which fund the Airports and Airways Trust Fund.   As Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Select Revenue, I had the opportunity in subcommittee to hear from the major stakeholders on this issue. We have… Read more