Hostage: Middle Class Tax Cuts

Fighting for Middle Class Tax Cuts
House Republicans are now the last obstacle standing in the way of middle class tax cuts. On Wednesday, the Senate passed Democratic legislation to extend tax cuts for 98% of Americans. Now, it is time for the House to do the same.

The House GOP has refused to allow a vote on this legislation. Instead of providing certainty to the American people, they continue to support their plan to provide tax cuts to the top 2% and add over $930 billion to the deficit. Unfortunately, this is only one of many manufactured crises that Americans have had to deal with since they gained the majority:

• Debt Ceiling Crisis
• A 13-Day partial Shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration
• Threatening a Government Shutdown
• Unnecessary delays on a bipartisan transportation bill to create or save over two million jobs, disaster relief for those affected by major tornados and hurricanes, financial relief for over 7 million college students

Democrats are committed to listening to the voices of the American people and addressing their top priorities. Congress must take immediate action to extend the middle class tax cut and prevent taxes from increasing on over 114 million American families.

Congresswoman Pelosi greets San Franciscans Dr. Diane Havlir, chief of the HIV/AIDS division at San Francisco General Hospital and Co-chair for the International AIDS Conference, and Dr. Paul Volberding, one of the world's leading AIDS experts, at a reception for the conference.

Making HIV/AIDS a Memory
Thanks to President Obama lifting the HIV travel ban, the International AIDS Conference returned to the United States for the first time since San Francisco hosted it in 1990 – opening the doors to over 25,000 leaders, advocates, doctors, and researchers from San Francisco and around the world. We gathered in our nation’s capitol to demonstrate, clearly and unequivocally, that the world is united in our effort to turn the tide together against AIDS.

Twenty-five years ago, in my first floor speech in Congress, I said that I came to Congress to fight AIDS. San Francisco was ground zero for the AIDS’ assault – on our health, economy and community; on the lives of our friends. We found comfort in the AIDS quilt, and renewal and remembrance in the National AIDS Memorial Grove. We knew we had to organize, not just agonize – and organize, not agonize, we did.

In Congress, I worked to pass the Ryan White Care Act, institute the Minority AIDS Initiative, authorize and fund the Global Fund, establish PEPFAR and double funding for global health from $4 billion to $8 billion per year. Now, with the Affordable Care Act, we are delivering substantial protections to people with HIV and AIDS.

We leave the Aids Conference with increased optimism – whether about advancements in science or prevention of mother-to-child transmissions. Yet that cannot make us complacent; it must heighten our resolve.

We have an obligation to be innovative and courageous in our thinking about prevention, treatment, and a cure. Where there is scientific opportunity, we have a moral obligation to fund it. Where there is discrimination, we have an obligation to end it. Together, we must, and will, make AIDS no more than a memory.

New Figures on Health Reform Benefits
Since the enactment of health reform, more than 5 million people with Medicare who have hit the ‘donut hole’ coverage gap have saved a total of $3.9 billion on their prescription drugs. In California, Medicare recipients saved an average of $564 in savings in the first half on 2012 alone. To find out more about how health reform benefits you, please visit healthcare.gov.

Please feel free to forward this information to your family and friends. To learn more about these efforts, to express your views, or to sign up for email updates, please visit my website. I am also on Twitter at https://twitter.com/NancyPelosi.