Maine Democratic Rep. Jared Golden was the only House Democrat who joined with Republicans to vote against his party’s sweeping Build Back Better social spending bill.
“I believe we’ve made progress so far, but there is still time left, and it’s not too late to do better. I will be voting no tonight, but that doesn’t mean I will oppose a final version of this bill if some meaningful changes are made to this legislation,” Golden said in a statement.
The swing-district congressman said that he could not support measures such as an increase to the state and local tax deduction, or SALT, and expressed concerns about rising prices due to inflation.
“The SALT giveaway in the Build Back Better Act is larger than the child care, pre-K, healthcare, or senior care provisions of the bill. As a result, the legislation would give a millionaire nearly 20 times more money than it would provide a low-income family through the Child Tax Credit,” Golden said.
HOUSE PASSES EXPENSIVE SOCIAL SPENDING BILL THAT NOW FACES BIG SENATE HURDLES
He also said that he hoped the bill would have undone other tax cuts from Republicans’ 2017 bill and that it would have included a tax on billionaires.
“The federal government has pumped $6 trillion into the economy in the last 18 months,” Golden added. “Many Mainers are feeling the consequences of this in the form of rising prices every time they go to the grocery store or refill their gas tank. While a variety of factors contribute to inflation, Congress can’t wash its hands of the role it has played.”
He praised, however, adjustments to renewable tax credits and the low-income home energy assistance program, among other measures.
Golden, 39, is a Marine veteran who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and was a Maine state representative before joining Congress. Golden was first elected to Maine’s rural second district in 2018, flipping it by defeating Republican incumbent Bruce Poliquin.
More centrist Democrats and left-wing Democrats for months battled over the nearly $2 trillion social spending bill, which includes free preschool, new healthcare subsidies, paid family leave, an extension of the expanded child tax credit, and green energy policies.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
All the other centrist Democrats eventually decided that they could vote for the bill. It now heads to the Senate, where measures such as paid family leave and an increase to the state and local tax deduction could be at risk of being removed.
To start: tax billionaires and stop tax giveaways to millionaires.
Many billionaires pay $0.00 in income taxes. Why wouldn’t we tax them? @RonWyden has a good proposal that has been considered for this bill.
— Congressman Jared Golden (@RepGolden) November 19, 2021
I support many of the ideas in the Build Back Better Act: pre-K, lower-priced Rx drugs for seniors, expanded child tax credits, addressing climate change, and more.
But voting for these should not be contingent on voting for tax giveaways to millionaires.
4/
— Congressman Jared Golden (@RepGolden) November 19, 2021
‘
This version of the bill is not the best deal for my constituents. I’m going to keep pushing to make changes to the Build Back Better Act so that it lives up to its goals and delivers the best possible deal for the people I represent.
— Congressman Jared Golden (@RepGolden) November 19, 2021
