The Alternative Minimum Tax Relief bill has stalled in the Senate. What's that you ask? Well, it is a bill that would have "protected millions of middle-class taxpayers from being hit with a surprise tax increase over the next several months" including more than 220,000 Oregon families, to start with. It also would have extended tuition tax credits for 53,000 Oregon college students and their families and the tax credits for 33,000 Oregon teachers who have out of pocket expenses in their jobs.
While Gordon Smith continues to insist on painting himself as a moderate who is not in cahoots with the Bush agenda, he exposes the hypocrisy of this claim when it comes down to actually voting in the best interests of his own constituents, by voting against legislation like this current bill and voting with what the administration wants. How much longer can Smith honestly and truly deceive himself into believing that Oregonians are really so unaware of what he is doing, or that we don't care? I guess we'll find out when Merkley retires Smith from the Senate.
2 comments:
All I can say is that I hope that the Democrats air an ad showing Smith voting against tax breaks for Oregon families and students. That will hopefully tear apart the false meme that Smith is a moderate.
As a current college student I know that $4,000 would go a long way to allowing me to get out of college without massive amounts of college loans. I know I am very lucky to get the family support, scholarships, and luck that I have gotten. Gordon Smith is no moderate.
Good Senators expand access to education like Jeff Merkley did in the State House, getting an expansion of the Oregon Opportunity Grant.
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