A significant portion of the legislation is devoted to providing tax benefits to various types of energy production. However, FreedomWorks believes that the government should not be in the business of choosing winners and losers in the energy market. The tax code should not be used as a tool for energy policy. Instead, Congress should strive to enact a tax code that is simple, fair, and flat.

Elsewhere, the legislation continues an ad hoc approach to tax policy that extends important portions of tax legislation on a year-to-year basis that perpetuates the complexity and uncertainty associated with the current tax code while ignoring the need for fundamental tax reform. The American tax code is in dire need of long-term reform and simplification. This current extender bill is a symptom of a broader problem created by a tax code too complicated for most Americans to understand and too uncertain for effective tax planning. Americans need real tax reform, not a yearly battle of extenders and other complications to the tax code.

We will count your vote on H.R. 6049 as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard for 2008. The FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.

Sincerely,

Matt Kibbe
President and CEO
FreedomWorks.org