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Deal: Congress aims for higher taxes, amnesty

By Will Davis


U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal talks with Rotarian Jack Craig as Cleveland postmaster Louise Nix looks on.
The new Democratic-controlled Congress is poised to give Americans higher taxes and a troubling immigration policy in the coming months, White County's Republican Congressman Nathan Deal told local Rotarians on Tuesday.

Deal spoke without notes for about 30 minutes to the White County Rotary Club during its regular Tuesday meeting at West Family Restaurant. Deal is back in his 9th Congressional District for the Memorial Day recess until Congress reconvenes next week.

Deal cautioned the White County crowd it could soon be facing higher taxes due to inaction by the new Democratic majority. Deal explained that a number of tax cuts passed by previous Republican Congresses, including reductions in the estate tax, the marriage penalty and the capital gains tax rate, are set to expire in coming years unless Congress acts. And he said Democrats have shown no willingness to make the tax cuts permanent.

Besides that, a Democratic budget proposal calls for $367 billion in new taxes, said Deal.

Deal said it's worrisome because he believes the tax cuts are what have kept the economy the strongest in the world despite the 9-11 attack and the ongoing war on terrorism.

“If they (tax cuts) go away, we could see a reversal in our economy in short order,â€