Opinions

Last year on the campaign trail, Democrats promised the American people they’d change the way Congress operates, pledging to do everything from lowering gas prices to restoring fiscal responsibility. They were going to usher in a new era in Congress. And so they did.

In their first year governing Congress, House Democrats proposed legislation that increases taxes and threatens American jobs and industry. The people who will suffer the consequences of their poor leadership are Americans trying to make ends meet to support their families, and nowadays, more and more of those Americans are women.
 
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of women running households without a spouse has risen steadily since 1998. In 2006, there were over 14 million women running households alone, and many of these women have three to four children. The median income for these households was $31,818 a year.

These women need policies that are going to help make their lives easier, not tougher; especially with high oil and home heating costs and with the instability in the housing market. Yet, Democrats did nothing to alleviate these concerns. Astonishingly, they did the opposite.

Democrats passed an energy bill that does nothing to address oil prices or home heating costs. Rep. Charlie Rangel introduced a ‘tax reform bill’ that the Heritage Foundation found would cause an average income loss per household of $2,339 and significantly increase taxes on over 10 million taxpayers. In addition to this, Democrats are floating other tax hikes such as a $150 billion “war surtax,” which would add two percent to low and middle income Americans’ tax bills, and a proposed 50-cents per gallon increase in gas taxes. They say these tax increases are needed to balance the budget but what we should be doing is cutting wasteful federal spending.

Poor policy has gone hand in hand with poor management in this Congress. Congress typically passes an Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) fix in late spring or early summer to prevent millions of taxpayers from being hit with this unfair tax. However, this past year, the new majority knew this was coming but failed to get a fix passed in time. The result will be over 23 million taxpayers having their refund checks delayed by three to four months.

Whether you’re a low income mother running a household or a working mother making a higher income trying to raise your kids, these policies are not going to make your financial situation better or your life any easier.  

Given that the Democrat leadership knew the AMT patch was going to expire but waited until it was too late shows a complete disregard for hardworking families, and is frankly irresponsible.

American women need to pay attention to what Democrats are proposing in Congress. When you read the fine print, women across the country should start to see that a large portion of Democrats’ proposals are not user friendly to the American woman trying to support herself and her family.


Human Events

Ms. Granger is the congresswoman for the 12th District of Texas and is the only Republican woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas.