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Rangel Open-Minded on Tax Cuts NewsMax.com Feisty New York Rep. Charles Rangel says he is still open-minded about President Bush's tax cuts due to end in 2010 but he will take strong steps to eliminate the burden of the alternative minimum tax. In a wide-ranging interview with NewsMax, Rangel, the new chairman of the House's powerful Ways and Means Committee, reveals he wants to avoid a "political confrontation" with Republicans. In the past, Rangel has beaten the liberal drum loudly. He has been arrested three times for taking part in civil protests, and has compared President Bush to Bull Connor, the police official in Birmingham, Ala., who led attacks on civil rights protesters in the 1960s. But Rangel struck a more conciliatory tone when he spoke with John Browne, contributing editor of NewsMax's Financial Intelligence Report, to discuss tax policy, education, trade, and other important issues. However, he left no doubt about his opposition to President Bush's call for a "surge" in troop levels in Iraq and to a pre-emptive strike on Iran.
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NewsMax: What are your overall goals in the next two years as chairman? Rangel: We have many challenges in the Congress . . . Social Security, tax reform, Medicare reform. We have to do something with our trade deficit. All those things are within the jurisdiction of the Ways and Means Committee . . .
There are major philosophical and political differences between the Republicans and the Democrats, but I think there is the possibility that we can get some of these things done because the Republicans have suffered severely at the polls as a result of a very, very unpopular president . . . It would seem to me since they don't have a president with any coattails, and they're not getting any political help from President Bush that they might want, hopefully I've discussed this with a lot of Republicans they might want to get something done on their own. On the other hand, even though Democrats won, we have not proven that we can get things done We have to work together and find consensus without losing principle. NewsMax: Do you think tax reform may be one of those things where you might get some cooperation? Rangel: Everything that I mention is a possibility. You know I am very anxious to eliminate the trillion-dollar burden we have on 23 million people as it relates to the alternative minimum tax. It's a very expensive item. But if we throw it in with the code and attempt to eliminate some of the bloatedness, some of the fatness, some of the deductions, some of the credits, it may not be tax reform but it certainly would be tax simplification.
NewsMax: What about things like the sunset of the Bush tax cuts? Rangel: That's 2010. I'm 76 years old and I don't buy green bananas. What happens in 2010, happens in 2010, depending on what the economy looks like . . . what the budget looks like, where the president has taken this crazy war. I for one just don't see how you can give tax cuts to the rich and just come to the Congress and ask them to put young people in harm's way and give tax cuts to the rich. NewsMax: What about a flat tax? Do you agree with Steve Forbes' idea for a flat tax? Rangel: You say it's flat but by the time you make the exceptions, it has just as many lumps in it as the code. All I can say is flat tax, silver tax, value-added tax, you have to say those things are in the mix but simplification with the present progressive tax seems to be the easiest. We can't do anything with a veto possibly over our heads. And so we don't know how far the Republicans are willing to go down with the progressive tax But the Republicans and I don't want a political confrontation before we've tested our ability to work together. NewsMax: The estate tax hit small family-owned businesses hard. What are your plans for it? Rangel: We already offered as alternatives to the repeal [of the estate tax reductions] a $3.5 million exemption for single and $7 million for a couple and a reduction in the rates so that's always been on the table. We just don't agree with a full repeal. NewsMax: On education, do you favor introducing vouchers to enable parental choice and more equal opportunity? Rangel: Vouchers haven't seemed to work but I do believe the private sector and the federal government have an obligation to assist in making sure that our young people graduate from school and are able to be productive . . . I want a fair advantage for Americans. And we can't do this if we have billions of kids in the streets and in jail, in trouble, committing violence. It's a tremendous expense socially as well as medically, and it is because these kids are not finishing school. NewsMax: China now holds about a trillion dollars of U.S. assets. Do you feel that China, by even threatening to sell dollar assets and therefore driving the dollar down, is now in a position to exert undue pressure on the American internal policy? Rangel: I really don't think that our people have been effective in aggressively [dealing with] dumping, currency manipulation, intellectual property rights, WTO violations. I just don't get the idea that we are prepared to deal with China the way I think we should. NewsMax: It looks like the American people want out of Iraq quickly. But now we hear about a troop surge into what some people think is a lost cause. How do you feel about that? Rangel: I think it is a terrible thing to ask young men and women to put themselves in harm's way, not for a military victory, not for a diplomatic victory, but for a surge. What is a surge? How can you tell a family that their kid died in a surge? How long does a surge take? At the end of the surge, what is a successful surge? What's the cost estimate of loss of life and limb before this escalation of the war? And have we done this before without success? Why are the generals that disagree with the surge retiring and why are new generals being replaced? I mean, is this a political thing? And if it is not, then we need people to testify under oath as to what the hell we are doing. It is bad enough how we got into it. But we don't need any mumbling about how the hell we get out. NewsMax: Would you support an America/Israeli pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities? Rangel: You know when you don't talk to people, I don't think you should just bomb them. Dammit, I cannot think of anyone who is so terrible, so mean that a first action is to bomb [them] instead of talking with them.
(c) 2007 NewsMax.com. All Rights Reserved.
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