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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I knew I liked this guy. By the way, Sali's office
is readily available from the link you thoughtfully provided by simply clicking
on the contact tab on the home page. This will take you to a page with a great
big E-MAIL BILL button. I encourage you to take him up on it and offer him
a warm and heart felt thank you.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>g</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: "Tom Hansen" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>thansen@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: "Vision 2020" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>vision2020@moscow.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sent: Saturday, February 17, 2007 6:56
AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Subject: [Vision2020] House Passes Bill Linking Tax
Cuts, Minimum Wage</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> >From Today's (February 17, 2007) Spokesman Review -<BR>>
<BR>> "The House bill would also raise revenue by closing a loophole that
permits<BR>> wealthy taxpayers to shift income to their children and avoid
higher taxes<BR>> on capital gains and dividends."<BR>> <BR>>
Representative Bill Sali, who continues to be inaccessible to the
citizens<BR>> of Idaho from his website at </FONT><A
href="http://sali.house.gov/"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://sali.house.gov/</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>, voted against
this<BR>> bill.<BR>> <BR>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------<BR>>
<BR>> House passes bill linking tax cuts, minimum wage<BR>> <BR>> Jim
Kuhnhenn <BR>> Associated Press<BR>> February 17, 2007<BR>> <BR>>
WASHINGTON - The House overwhelmingly approved business tax breaks worth<BR>>
$1.8 billion over 10 years on Friday, a key step toward forging a<BR>>
congressional compromise on increasing the minimum wage.<BR>> <BR>> The
vote on the tax cuts was 360-45.<BR>> <BR>> Passage of a wage hike for the
lowest-paid workers now depends on how<BR>> quickly the House and Senate work
out differences between their tax<BR>> packages. The Senate tax breaks -
worth $8.3 billion - are more than four<BR>> times bigger than the ones
passed in the House.<BR>> <BR>> Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max
Baucus, D-Mont., said House and Senate<BR>> negotiators could reconcile
differences in the bills within two or three<BR>> weeks.<BR>> <BR>>
"The minimum wage provision is going to trump all of this and is going
to<BR>> drive us to get this thing done pretty quickly," Baucus said.<BR>>
<BR>> Under the House bill, small businesses would see an extension in some
tax<BR>> write-offs that are scheduled to expire and would be able to
continue to<BR>> claim a tax credit for hiring disadvantaged workers. The
legislation also<BR>> would ensure that restaurants, which can deduct Social
Security taxes paid<BR>> on tips above the minimum wage, would not be hurt by
the wage hike.<BR>> <BR>> The House bill would also raise revenue by
closing a loophole that permits<BR>> wealthy taxpayers to shift income to
their children and avoid higher taxes<BR>> on capital gains and
dividends.<BR>> <BR>> The House vote displayed the influence the Senate's
Republican minority can<BR>> have on congressional legislation. House
Democrats had demanded a minimum<BR>> wage bill without any tax provisions.
Senate Democrats insisted that without<BR>> some tax relief, the minimum wage
would lose necessary Republican backing.<BR>> <BR>> Senate Republican
officials predicted the final tax package would be closer<BR>> to the House
version than the Senate's. Small business groups have sided<BR>> with the
Senate, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is lobbying for the House<BR>>
version.<BR>> <BR>> Eager to begin their weeklong Presidents Day recess,
lawmakers spent little<BR>> time debating the tax cuts and acted under
expedited procedures that<BR>> required a two-thirds majority, a threshold
the vote easily met.<BR>> <BR>> The minimum wage bill had become the new
Democratic majority's first<BR>> legislative challenge. The $2.10 an hour
increase - from $5.15 to $7.25 over<BR>> two years - was a Democratic
campaign issue last year and was at the top of<BR>> the party's legislative
agenda. But the bill stumbled when House and Senate<BR>> Democrats disagreed
on the need for tax cuts.<BR>> <BR>> With its $8.3 billion tax package,
the Senate would extend tax credits and<BR>> tax write-offs, and provides new
tax preferences to certain companies. It<BR>> also would eliminate some tax
shelters and add new taxes on lawsuit<BR>> settlements and punitive damage
payments and on deferred compensation<BR>> packages for higher paid
executives.<BR>> <BR>>
-----------------------------------------------------------------<BR>>
<BR>> Seeya round town, Moscow.<BR>> <BR>> Tom Hansen<BR>> Moscow,
Idaho<BR>> <BR>> "Forty percent of the mass of every tree in the forest is
crude oil. Stop<BR>> and think about that. We call them fossil
fuels because they used to be<BR>> live stuff, now is in the ground is turned
into crude oil." <BR>> <BR>> - Bill Sali (September 21, 2006)<BR>>
</FONT><A href="http://www.tomandrodna.com/Stuff/Sali_Tree_Energy.mp3"><FONT
face=Arial
size=2>http://www.tomandrodna.com/Stuff/Sali_Tree_Energy.mp3</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
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