Georgia Democrats Blast House Republicans’ Vote to Raise Taxes on 160 Million Americans

Georgia – On the heels of yesterday’s blatantly partisan vote by Republicans in the House to raise taxes on 160 million Americans in the middle of the holiday season – the latest demonstration of Republicans’ failed economic policies for middle-class Americans – the Democratic Party of Georgia released the following statement:

“Republicans – from their presidential candidates like Mitt Romney, to House Speaker John Boehner to the right wing extremists which dominate the House Republican caucus – have failed the American people, a failure which will not soon be forgotten.

“Just days after 89 U.S. Senators, including a majority of Republicans and all of the Republican Senate leadership, passed a temporary extension of the payroll tax cut for the middle class, House Republicans played politics with the middle class and turned their backs on working families here in Georgia and across the country – voting for a tax hike on 160 million Americans.

“While a number of Republican Senators – including Senator Scott Brown, who represents Mitt Romney’s home state of Massachusetts – issued a strong rebuke of House Republicans’ decision to cater to the extreme right wing of the GOP, Romney and the rest of the GOP field of presidential candidates have been silent and shown not a whiff of leadership on this issue whatsoever.

“Romney, in particular, has repeatedly dismissed the payroll tax cut as a ‘little Band-Aid’ – reluctantly supporting an extension only after he realized the public overwhelmingly supported it.  Furthermore, his economic policies – just like the Republican budget plan in Congress that he supports, which would end Medicare as we know it, lead to deep cuts in Social Security and wipe out investments in education and vital programs that create jobs – would be a disaster for middle-class families in Georgia who are still struggling to make ends meet.

“Republicans pay lip service to the middle class.  But, when push comes to shove they will move heaven and earth to pass tax breaks for millionaires, billionaires and large corporations while raising taxes on 160 million middle class Americans.  That’s a position that damages the American people.”