Bill Nelson wants to know what you think, again. Let's tell him!

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Dear Friends,

In an opinion piece I penned for today’s POLITCO, below, there’s a specific solution to the nation’s economic woes. We have to stop the partisan finger pointing. And we have to realize we can’t just cut our way out of this mess. Take a look and let me know what you think via an e-mail under the “economy” topic. Thanks.

Close the tax loopholes

"There’s no mystery about what we have to do. It’s just common sense. In addition to the spending cuts Congress just made, we need tax reform. And by tax reform, I mean closing loopholes, special interest tax breaks and corporate subsidies. It’s just plain wrong to be protecting tax breaks for oil companies and to be rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas." - Sen. Bill Nelson

By: Sen. Bill Nelson
August 10, 2011

After watching Standard & Poor’s performance in the Enron and housing debacles, it’s hard to stomach their decision to downgrade America’s credit.

But even coming from S&P, there is a message we should hear: The finger pointing and hyper-partisanship has to stop. If it doesn’t, we really will be on the road to ruin.

Democrats need to see tea partiers as something other than debt-limit hostage-taking Republicans. And Republicans need to see President Barack Obama and Democrats as something other than big-spending socialists.

We’ve got to stop this attack madness. We have to bring civility back to the public square. We have to put the country back on the path to fiscal sanity.

To do that, we need to cut some $4 trillion to $5 trillion. We made a down payment on this with the $2 trillion dollars we cut just last week. Now we need to go further.

To understand what we have to do, though, we first need to look at how we got here.

We went from a $236 billion budget surplus in 2000 to a $1.3 trillion deficit last year — and a record $14 trillion debt. A huge chunk of the debt comes from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re bringing the troops home.

Another significant piece stems from the Bush-era tax cuts. Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, says the tax cuts for the wealthy should be left to expire. They’re set to do so at the end of next year. We should let that happen.

Agree or not, don’t you think most Americans were better off before the tax cuts than they are now?

Much of the rest of the debt comes from the economic downturn since 2008.

That brings us to today. And there’s no mystery about what we have to do. It’s just common sense. In addition to the spending cuts Congress just made, we need tax reform.

And by tax reform, I mean closing loopholes, special interest tax breaks and corporate subsidies. It’s just plain wrong to be protecting tax breaks for oil companies and to be rewarding businesses that ship jobs overseas.

As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth Subcommittee, I’ve scheduled a hearing for early September to investigate closing many of these loopholes. Doing so will likely generate $2 trillion over the next decade. Add that to the $2 trillion in spending cuts we’ve made — and we’re in the $4 trillion range that we need to hit.

It’s time to stop the shouting and bickering and political attacks. It’s time to show the world that America can take care of business.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) is a member of the Senate Finance and Budget committees.

© 2011 POLITICO LLC

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Comment by Bill Ullrich on August 10, 2011 at 8:29pm: Point blank & simple. Fire Marshall Bill is clueless. He is an prime example of why we need term limits.

Vote out, replace with a true conservative, save our country.

Comment by Deborah Kopcho on August 10, 2011 at 7:32pm: I did tell Mr. Nelson what I wanted of him, I want him replaced Plain and Simple! He has ignored his constituents for too long now, we want to see him replaced! I believe he has done his best to ignore us.

Comment by Pat on August 10, 2011 at 6:07pm: "I'm ready to have Mr. Nelson replaced."

I passed ready a long time ago.

Sent e mails, called and responded to his latest request and will expect a totally unrelated respone (if any). The people in his offices are rude and sound annoyed when I call.

I've e mailed Cong. John Mica and have always gotten replies pertinent to my comments and when I call his office I'm always treated with consideration. My latest e mail to Cong. Mica was answered by a phone call from his DC staff.

Comment by Pat Schulz on August 10, 2011 at 5:55pm: I did send a response to his email. I do not expect anything but a form letter email in response. I hope we have a good, courageous Conservative run against him. I'm ready to have Mr. Nelson replaced.

Comment by George Vaughn on August 10, 2011 at 5:48pm: Well, well, well,.....looks like old Nelson is in the "campaign mode", trying to make it looks like he really cares about input from his constituency. Makes me sick on my stomach to think there are people out there who will really be swayed by this disingenuous outreach. He can't leave office soon enough to suit me.....of course he will take his "golden" Congressional Retirement Plan and lavish Congressional Health Plan with him.....I only wish there was a way to strip him of those benefits.

Comment by Mike Austell on August 10, 2011 at 5:44pm: Yes we can "cut ourselves out of this mess", starting with you, Nelson. If you think you have one marketable skill, Nelson, go try to get a job. YOU'RE FIRED!!!!

Comment by Theresa Pletcher on August 10, 2011 at 5:00pm: Please do us all a favor and resign...not sure who's opinion you really want since you are too chicken to vote against your own party. I sincerely hope you are in the private sector after the next election. You are a disgrace to Americans everywhere!

Comment by Yvonne C Heikkinen on August 10, 2011 at 4:49pm: Hopefully, I will see you in the private sector after November 2012 struggling, like so many of us, to make a living. Well, the struggling part will probably not happen since you have enriched yourself mightily while "serving" your constituency!

Comment by robert neustadt on August 10, 2011 at 4:44pm: If this message ever reaches Bill Nelson, please tell him for me that I think that he personally destroyed my small business with his leftist government regulations, taxes and fees. Yet if I had stayed employed by a major union airline company, I would be much better off now. Screw you and the unions! I have worked the American dream of my own business for 25 years. And now I am on the verge of bankruptcy due to high taxes and more regulations under health care bills. My message to you is…. Leave me alone! Get out of my way, and stop over taxing and FEEing me to death. Retire – PLEASE, PLEASE!

Comment by Shilrey Chipperfield on August 10, 2011 at 4:41pm: Amen Thomas!!! I am already committed to working on the campaign for whoever runs against him.

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