Moving forward with the tax deal (Rep.-elect Rob Woodall)

For months, Congress has been focused on extending the
2001 and 2003 tax cuts, but with no results. American taxpayers were clear in
last month’s election that they are expecting results, and this week those
results are beginning to appear. What a difference an election makes! In 2003
with a Republican House and a Republican president, the “2003 tax cuts” were
passed by the narrowest of margins when Vice President Dick Cheney cast the
tie-breaking 51st vote in the Senate. Today, with a Democratic House and a
Democratic president, this deal proposes that Congress pass those tax cuts
again.  The American voter is being
heard loud and clear.

Understanding that conservatives are not in control of the
Congress or the White House today, the proposed tax deal is a positive first
step for this country. Instead of continuing to punish those who work hard and
save for a rainy day, the 2001 and 2003 tax cut extensions allow small
businesses to thrive without the massive hand of the IRS digging into their
pockets. Instead of returning to the crippling Death Tax rate of 55 percent,
this deal lowers that rate and raises the exemption. Had this deal not been
struck, too many Americans would have had their homes taken by Uncle Sam rather
than left to their children and grandchildren.

For those who dislike this tax deal, let me be clear that
this deal is not the end of the discussion on helping small businesses and
working families; it is a beginning. There is so much more to do, and when a
Republican House is sworn in next month, you can be certain that we will begin
to do it. We will move forward with conservative solutions — no more
government bailouts of private industry, no more needless over-regulation of
small businesses, no more wasteful stimulus programs that grow the size of
government, and no more punitive taxation. We have big problems to solve, and
we must thoughtfully consider big solutions, like incoming Budget Committee
Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) “Roadmap for America’s Future,” or incoming
Republican Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price’s (R-Ga.) “Empowering Patients
First Act,” as an alternative to Obamacare.  Furthermore, we must consider the “FairTax Act,” which I
will introduce on my very first day in Congress. When we form a new Republican
majority in the House in January, we will push forward toward more
transformative legislation in the 112th Congress.

Rob Woodall is the Congressman-elect for Georgia’s 7th Congressional
District. Woodall is the former Chief of Staff to retiring Congressman John
Linder (R-Ga.-7) and is co-author of the New York Times Bestseller, “FairTax:
the Truth”. The FairTax is the most widely cosponsored fundamental tax reform
bill in either the U.S. House or Senate.