Long Island to be slammed by McCarthy/Pelosi tax hike; McCarthy trades her leverage for…NOTHING

This week Fran delivered an exceptional address dealing with the income tax tsunami that’s going to hit Long Island in January.  As Fran made clear, Congresswoman McCarthy provided the critical swing vote for Speaker Pelosi to adjourn Congress without addressing the January 1^st massive hike in income tax rates.  Believe it or not, the vote was 210-209!  Had Carolyn stood up for us, and not Speaker Pelosi, they would be in session now finding a way to protect our jobs and our economy.  This really was an unbelievably irresponsible vote by Congresswoman McCarthy.

“Carolyn held the fate of our district in her hands” Fran told the crowd, “and she just let go”.

The truth is that Ms. McCarthy knew for the entire year what was coming and did nothing.  Neither Carolyn nor her leadership even bothered to write a bill continuing the existing tax rates!  Well, now that she is back home she is telling us not to worry, she will take care of it when she gets back to D.C.  Really?  What power does she have to keep that promise when her leadership is against continuing the existing rates and her party is in turmoil?  Well, one thing that would be useful would be some leverage for the 4^th CD…

But wait,  Ms. McCarthy just gave away the one bit of leverage this district had, her vote to adjourn.  Why?  Maybe so Speaker Pelosi could help embattled politicians in far away districts get re-elected.  If she really cared about this district and our economic well being, she would have told Pelosi NO.  Saying you are going to do something,  Ms. McCarthy, is not the same as actually doing it.  And when you could have stood up for US, you sat down for Pelosi.

No matter what empty promises her campaign circulates about how she wants to vote in the future, the fact is that when she could have acted she did not.  And when she goes back for her lame duck term,  she will be unable to act.  What she actually did by providing that critical swing vote to Pelosi was seal our fate for vastly higher taxes come January.  And there is no way to spin that.

What is especially galling about this is there actually are moderate democrats that pleaded with Speaker Pelosi to not raise taxes in a recession- 31 one of them signed a letter to her laying out how devastating it will be for the economy and our jobs.  You can read it yourself.  If Carolyn was being straight with us, why is her name not on that letter?  Is it really too much to ask that she be one of the moderate Democrats that actually walks the walk?

These massive tax increases are going to cause greater job losses and an unacceptable new burden on taxpayers in our district.  Even Senator Lieberman said recently, “the surest way for Congress to help bring about a double-dip recession” is to raise rates.

Ms. McCarthy's vote to adjourn was a vote for massive tax hikes on Long Island families.  This has to stop; we need an effective and wise advocate for US  in Washington, D.C.  Fran Becker is that advocate.