BATON ROUGE — Bill Cassidy wants Louisiana families to forget that in January he voted to raise their taxes by an average of $2,200 per year. On Jan. 1, 2013, Cassidy voted against the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 that provided permanent tax relief to 99 percent of Louisianians and cut taxes by $3.9 trillion over 10 years, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate.

Even Grover Norquist of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform endorsed the legislation and said that “if the Republican House had voted no… 100 percent of the Bush tax cuts would have disappeared.”

“Had Bill Cassidy been successful in stopping permanent tax relief for Louisianians in January, the average middle-class family in Louisiana would be paying $2,200 more this year in taxes. Bill Cassidy tried to use middle-class Louisianians as leverage to get millionaires more tax breaks. And when he wasn’t successful, he voted to raise taxes on 99 percent of the taxpayers in our state. Thankfully, Bill Cassidy and his extremist allies were not successful in killing this critical tax relief for Louisiana families. Once again, Bill Cassidy voted against Louisiana families and for extremists in Washington,” said Kirstin Alvanitakis, communications director for the Louisiana Democratic Party.

What $2,200 means to an average middle-class Louisiana family:

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Bill Cassidy Voted Against The American Taxpayer Relief Act That Cuts Taxes for Average Louisiana Family by $2,200

THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT PROTECTED 1.6 MILLION MIDDLE-CLASS LOUISIANA FAMILIES FROM AN INCOME TAX HIKE

The National Economy Council Estimated That A Median-Income Louisiana Family Of Four Would Have Seen Their Income Taxes Rise By $2,200. “If Congress fails to act, every American family’s taxes will automatically increase-including the 99 percent of Louisiana families who make less than $250,000 a year and the 97 percent of American small businesses that earn less than $250,000 a year. A median-income Louisiana family of four (earning $68,900) could see its income taxes rise by $2,200.” [NEC, 12/6/12]

The National Economic Council Estimated 1.6 Million Middle-Class Louisiana Families Would Have Seen Their Income Taxes Increased. “On January 1, income taxes are scheduled to go up for 1.6 million middle-class Louisiana families, and tax cuts such as the expanded Child Tax Credit, the 10 percent tax bracket, marriage penalty relief, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit all expire.” [NEC, 12/6/12]

BILL CASSIDY VOTED AGAINST A $3.9 TRILLION TAX THAT PROTECTED THE MIDDLE CLASS FROM HUGE INCOME AND ESTATE TAX INCREASES

Bill Cassidy Opposed The American Taxpayer Relief Act Of 2012 That Permanently Protected Middle Class From Higher Taxes While Increasing Taxes on High Income Earners. In 2013, Bill Cassidy voted against the Camp, R-Mich., motion to concur in the Senate amendments to the bill that would permanently extend the 2001 and 2003 tax rates for individual income below $400,000 and joint-filer income below $450,000. Rates for income above those thresholds would rise to 39.6 percent from 35 percent. It also would permanently extend the tax rates on dividends and capital gains for individual income below $400,000 and joint-filer income below $450,000. Rates for the dividends and capital gains taxes would rise to 20 percent for income above those thresholds. It also would tax individual estates valued over $5 million and joint estates valued over $10 million at 40 percent. It would extend the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program at current rates, and it would permanently “patch” the alternative minimum tax to account for inflation. Unemployment insurance would be extended through 2013. The bill would block scheduled cuts to Medicare physician payment rates and extend for five years tax credits included in the 2009 stimulus law including the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. It would allow the 2 percent payroll tax holiday to expire. The motion was agreed to by a vote of 257-167. [CQ; HR 8, Vote #659, 1/1/13]

  • The Joint Committee On Taxation Calculated That The American Taxpayer Relief Act Of 2012 Cut Taxes By $3.9 Trillion Over Ten Years. [Joint Committee On Taxation, Estimated Revenue Effects Of The Revenue Provisions Contained In An Amendment In The Nature Of A Substitute To H.R. 8, The “American Taxpayer Relief Act Of 2012,” As Passed By The Senate On January 1, 2013, 1/1/13]
  • As Part Of The Deal To Resolve The “Fiscal Cliff,” Estates Up To $5 Million Were Protected From The Estate Tax And Those Over $5 Million Paid 40 Percent As Opposed To 55 Percent. “The majority of taxpayers can celebrate the provisions of the fiscal-cliff bill passed by Congress on Tuesday, at least with regard to tax law: the continuation of the income-tax rates they’ve enjoyed for a decade, certainty with regard to the alternative minimum tax, and the extension of a number of popular tax breaks. …Under the fiscal-cliff deal, estates up to $5 million will be excluded from tax, while those valued above that amount face a 40% rate. Had the fiscal-cliff law not been enacted, the estate tax exclusion would have reverted to $1 million and a 55% rate. In 2012, the exclusion was $5 million and the rate was 35%.” [Market Watch, 1/2/13]
  • Grover Norquist Of The Americans For Tax Reform Defended The American Taxpayer Relief Act As An Important Tax Cut That Did Violate His ATR Pledge. “If nothing had happened, there was a $500 billion tax increase happening. So it’s not as if the Republicans could have stopped this – you couldn’t throw yourself on a train and stop this. But if the Republican house had voted no, then what would have happened was that instead of having a tax increase, 15% of the Bush tax cuts disappearing, 100% of the Bush tax cuts would have disappeared. We were put in a very awkward position and that’s why – if that was the only fight ever taking place in the next twenty years I’d be very disappointed. But here’s what we got: taxes actually technically, formally, and legally, went up January 1st $500 billion dollars for this next year and we cut them back. So people who had made a commitment not to vote for tax increases actually kept that commitment as irritating as it is that taxes went up because nothing else happened.” [Grover Norquist, Talk Radio Network, 1/3/13]

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