07/23/2010

By Matt Garfield - mgarfield@heraldonline.com

COLUMBIA -- Recalling the nearly 30 years they served together in Congress, Vice President Joe Biden praised U.S. Rep. John Spratt as “a graceful man who has more decency, and a more powerful intellect, than almost anybody I’ve worked with.”

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07/19/2010

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July 20, 2010

I Spy Spratt!

Show your support for Spratt's reelection campaign. If you see a Spratt for Congress yard sign or bumper sticker, someone wearing a Spratt t-shirt or button take that camera phone out and snap a picture! Send it to us at ispyspratt@gmail.com. or post it to the campaign's facebook wall at http://www.facebook.com/johnsprattforcongress

July 5, 2010

WASHINGTON - On July 1, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a Budget Enforcement Resolution introduced by House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC).  Congressman Spratt made the following statement.

"Today the House took an important step in the budget process by approving a budget enforcement resolution for fiscal year 2011. This resolution caps the level of discretionary spending for the upcoming fiscal year, permitting the Appropriations Committee to move forward with appropriation bills for fiscal year 2011.

"With the passage of this resolution, we have in place the functional equivalent of a traditional budget resolution. For the short term, this resolution limits discretionary spending and strengthens the 'Pay-As-You-Go' rule (PAYGO), which limits mandatory spending and revenue reduction legislation. For the long term, the resolution sets an out-year goal of returning the budget to primary balance (excluding net interest costs) in 2015, and assures that the House will have an opportunity to vote this year on budget proposals made by the President's Fiscal Commission and approved by the Senate.

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June 25, 2010

WASHINGTON - Congressman John Spratt today issued the following statement on tax cuts and the budget.

"I support the middle-income tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003. I have voted not once but several times to remove marriage penalties in the tax code and to index the alternative minimum tax so that it does not apply to middle-income taxpayers for whom it was never intended. I voted also for a 10% tax bracket, which is a big tax cut, $334 billion over ten years, and for an increased child tax credit.

"For hard-working taxpayers making moderate wages, I have always supported the earned income tax credit, which amounts to a tax cut for 50,000 working parents in my district. For well-to-do tax payers, I have voted to allow an estate tax exemption of $3.5 million per decedent and reduction of the estate tax top rate by ten percentage points.

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June 25, 2010

Thank You

Thanks to everyone who has joined me in my campaign. I appreciate your support!

June 9, 2010

John Votes for Bill To Modernize Military, Increase Troop Safety, and Strengthen Defense

Congressman John Spratt joined a majority of his House colleagues in voting to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The bill will modernize our military, increase benefits for our troops and their families, and fully fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Spratt, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said: “Our nation is fighting two wars and modernizing our military to secure against future threats, all at the same time. For these reasons, this bill authorizes $726 billion for defense, an increase of 6.7% over last year.”

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May 18, 2010

“As an apparent tactic to draw attention from my opponent’s support for privatizing Social Security, the NRCC claims that I also supported privatization, when just the opposite is true. As chairman of the Budget Committee, I organized the opposition in our caucus to the Bush Administration’s proposal.

”The NRCC accuses me of ‘amnesia,’ a sly, underhanded reference to the fact that I am in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease. I found their assertions beneath contempt, and did not reply, but given the coverage of this story, I need to respond.

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April 15, 2010

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) highlighted today the broad-based tax cuts enacted for working families since last year. These include 25 different tax cuts in the Recovery Act, the largest health care tax cut in history, job-creating tax incentives to spur hiring of out-of-work Americans, and tax credits and accelerated write offs for small businesses.

“Don’t take my word for it,” said Spratt. “Bruce Bartlett, President Reagan’s domestic policy advisor, noted that ‘federal taxes are considerably lower by every measure since Obama became president.’”

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March 27, 2010

WASHINGTON - The new health care bill signed into law on March 23 will make medical care both more available and more affordable. U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) voted for passage, to put insurance within reach of 32 million more people, raising coverage to 95% of all Americans.

“We have the best medical care system in the world,” said Spratt, “but it is also the world’s most expensive, and care is not readily available to millions of Americans who need it. The rising cost is not sustainable, not only in household and business budgets, but in the federal budget as well. The challenge is to expand coverage while containing cost.”

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January 30, 2010

WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. John Spratt (D-SC) returned January 26 from a four-day trip to Afghanistan, with stop-overs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. He led a congressional delegation as chairman of the House Budget Committee. The committee will be considering funds for our mission in Afghanistan this year and next, and the implications for budgets in the future.

Spratt was joined by U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the Ranking Republican on the Budget Committee; U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) and Xavier Becerra (D-CA), both members of the committee; and U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor (D-MS), a senior member along with Spratt on the House Armed Services Committee.

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