State of Washington secondary Archives: on Tax Reform

Dino Rossi: Extend Bush tax cuts; allow entrepreneurs to be successful

Rossi hammered Murray as a 3-term incumbent who constantly voted for bigger government programs and more government control of business. "You have an 18-year incumbent killing jobs in the state of Washington in vote after vote," Rossi said. "I want to allow entrepreneurs to be successful."

As she has done throughout the campaign, Murray sought to paint Rossi as a friend to Wall Street & big banks. Rossi, a real estate developer, branded Murray as a big-spending liberal. The candidates referred constantly to the fight over extending the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts to individuals making more than $200,000

Dino Rossi: Repealing Bush tax cut is biggest tax increase in US history

After the election, Congress plans to reauthorize Bush-era tax cuts. But Democrats want to let expire the break for Americans who make more than $200,000 a year. Murray said, "The top 2% of Americans are costing us a trillion dollars, [and if we do that] we will not have the resources to provide a skilled workforce."

Rossi responded that small business owners are among those who would have to pay the higher tax, saying, "We need to make sure that we don't have the biggest tax increase in American history because quite frankly it's going to kill more jobs. You take money away from the people who are creating jobs, they're going to have less to create jobs with. This is not too hard to figure out. But that's exactly how this works."

Patty Murray: Extending Bush tax cuts reduces social & health programs

Rossi hammered Murray as a 3-term incumbent who constantly voted for bigger government programs and more government control of business. "You have an 18-year incumbent killing jobs in the state of Washington in vote after vote," Rossi said. "I want to allow entrepreneurs to be successful."

As she has done throughout the campaign, Murray sought to paint Rossi as a friend to Wall Street & big banks. Rossi, a real estate developer, branded Murray as a big-spending liberal. The candidates referred constantly to the fight over extending the 2001 & 2003 tax cuts to individuals making more than $200,000

Patty Murray: Bush tax cut for top 2% costs us $2 trillion

After the election, Congress plans to reauthorize Bush-era tax cuts. But Democrats want to let expire the break for Americans who make more than $200,000 a year. Murray attacked Rossi for saying he would vote to extend those tax cuts saying, "The top 2% of Americans are costing us a trillion dollars, [and if we do that] we will not have the resources to provide a skilled workforce, or the transportation infrastructure."

Rossi responded that small business owners are among those wh would have to pay the higher tax, saying, "We need to make sure that we don't have the biggest tax increase in American history because quite frankly it's going to kill more jobs."