Hultgren Calls Obama Tax Proposal An Increase on Small Businesses

U.S. Rep. Randy Hultgren criticized President Barack Obama's call to extend the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for people making less than $250,000 a year, while at the same time allowing the tax cuts on those who make more to expire.

Republicans, including Hultgren, criticized the refusal to extend the tax cuts for all, citing that many of those who will be impacted will be small business owners, which will affect their ability to expand business and hire new employees.

“Unemployment has been above 8 percent for 41 months now. U.S. Census data tells us that small businesses employ more than 25 percent of the total workforce. Insisting on a small business tax hike is the last way to create jobs," Hultgren said in a press release.

Hultgren, who represents the Tri-Cities, said the President claimed to have cut middle class taxes every year of his presidency, yet pushing new taxes through the passage of the Affordable Care Act. At the end of June the that the federal government can levy a "tax" on individuals who do not buy into the system. The judges said the individual mandate cannot be upheld under the commerce clause, but that Congress's ability to tax and spend in this case is upheld.

“He conveniently left out one of the largest government expansions of all time - his health care law, which originally included 22 new tax increases (12 of which were direct taxes on the middle class, violating his own pledge)," Hultgren said. "What the President is advocating is a tax hike that has already been rejected by the House, the Senate, and the American people. We don’t have a revenue problem. We have a spending problem, and this is not the time to be raising taxes on anyone, especially not job creators."

Despite the president's urging to extend the tax cuts for some Americans, it islikely to result in another standoff between the administration and the U.S. House, the Washington Post reports -- something Obama is counting on in order to paint Republicans as unwilling to support the middle class.

During his Monday proposal Obama said it's time to let the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire. He added that most small business owners will not be impacted by his proposal.He said 98 percent of the public, as well as 97 percent of small-business owners, would fall under the $250,000-per-year threshold, the Washington Post reported.