Wicker Statement on Agreement to Avoid Fiscal Cliff
Deal prevents income tax increases for 99 percent of Americans and delays defense cuts
January 1, 2013
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), on Tuesday, voted for a bipartisan deal to stop the fiscal cliff – a combination of tax increases and sequestration spending cuts set to go into effect in 2013. The Senate voted 89-8 to pass the Tax Relief Extension Act, H.R. 8.
“This agreement averts a massive tax hike by extending current income tax rates permanently for 99 percent of Americans,” said Wicker. “It is not perfect, and there is still work left to do. Congress and the President must reduce the federal deficit. Indiscriminate cuts to defense have been prevented for only a few months. Today’s vote is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.”
If a compromise had not been reached, taxes were set to rise by an average of nearly $2,200 for Mississippians this year according to the Heritage Foundation. The child tax credit was scheduled to drop from $1,000 per child to $500, and homeowners would lose important tax deductions. In addition to tax hikes, cuts to defense spending threatened more than 11,000 Mississippi jobs.
Wicker recently wrote in this column about the effects of the fiscal cliff on Mississippi.
“This agreement averts a massive tax hike by extending current income tax rates permanently for 99 percent of Americans,” said Wicker. “It is not perfect, and there is still work left to do. Congress and the President must reduce the federal deficit. Indiscriminate cuts to defense have been prevented for only a few months. Today’s vote is a step in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.”
If a compromise had not been reached, taxes were set to rise by an average of nearly $2,200 for Mississippians this year according to the Heritage Foundation. The child tax credit was scheduled to drop from $1,000 per child to $500, and homeowners would lose important tax deductions. In addition to tax hikes, cuts to defense spending threatened more than 11,000 Mississippi jobs.
Wicker recently wrote in this column about the effects of the fiscal cliff on Mississippi.
