At a time when folks are demanding a united front from your elected officials in Washington, D.C., on issues like economic growth and job creation, it upsets me greatly that President Obama instead seems intent on dividing our nation by pursuing politically motivated strategies firmly rooted in class warfare.

The first salvo in this war of divisiveness appeared in the form of the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012, better known as the ‘Buffett Rule,’ or more accurately, the Buffett tax. Simply stated,  this legislation taken up by the Senate last week would punish small businesses, would not create jobs, would fail to solve the nation’s debt crisis, and would not address high gas prices that have doubled under the president.

The tax code has become a broken maze of complexity, overgrown with high marginal rates that stifle economic growth and job creation. Recently, House Republicans passed a budget that would reform the our broken tax code to spur job creation and economic opportunity by lowering rates, closing loopholes and putting hardworking taxpayers ahead of special interests. The pro-growth reforms ensure the tax code is fair, simple and competitive. This budget would consolidate the current six individual income tax brackets into just two low brackets of 10 and 25 percent and would repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax.  Additionally, this budget would reduce the corporate rate to 25 percent and shift from a “worldwide” system of taxation to a “territorial” tax system that puts American companies and their workers on a level playing field with foreign competitors. More importantly, our budget rejects the president’s call to raise taxes. Instead, it broadens the tax base to maintain revenue growth at a level consistent with current tax policy and at a share of the economy consistent with historical norms of 18 to 19 percent in the following decades.

Conversely, this Buffett tax, pushed by the administration, would raise taxes on small business owners during the worst unemployment crisis since the Great Depression.  It would do nothing to reduce the deficit or rein in President Obama’s runaway debt. If used solely for deficit reduction, the revenue expected to be raised over 10 years by the Buffett tax would decrease February 2012’s deficit by a mere 20 percent. Many of you also understand that the president’s divisive claims that our tax system benefits only the wealthy is simply untrue when you consider that Internal Revenue Service data shows that middle-class workers on average pay just under 15 percent of their income in federal taxes, while the richest 0.1 percent pay almost twice as high a rate on average, or 26 percent.

While it is my firm belief that the president will continue to promote his class warfare agenda between now and November, I believe that our tax policies should create more opportunity for economic growth, investment, and job creation – not less. That is why last week I also supported another bill -- the 20 percent Small Business Tax Cut – to enable small businesses with fewer than 500 employees to use extra capital to invest, grow, and create more jobs through a 20 percent tax deduction. We must not forget that small businesses have generated 65 percent of net new jobs over the past 17 years and that is why we should do all we can to reduce barriers to job creation like higher taxes, more regulation, and unsustainable debt.  

This latest effort to create jobs and hold the line on taxes is part of an ongoing pledge we made to you when we introduced the House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators, which I have discussed with many of you before. To date, House Republicans have passed more than 30 bills to get our economy back on track, and all that remains is for the Senate to consider these bills and take action on them so that the president can sign them into law and make a real commitment to our nation’s future. Unfortunately, we are less than optimistic that this will happen.

During my recent two-week return back to the 9th District, people from all walks of life and from all parts of the district said they were tired of the rhetoric coming out of Washington and instead wanted to see results. We have been working hard and we will continue to seek ways to convince the president and others that the time to act in unison is now. The goals should always be to remove government obstacles to long-term economic growth and make the kind of reforms that are needed to end the crippling economic uncertainty that is hampering our economic well being.