Mineola Moms Beat Back Tax Talk

Nassau County residents have a specific message for Congressmen debating with the debt ceiling: Reform the tax code.

“I don’t think it's fair that those who make more money get more breaks,” said stay-at-home mom April Bohringer while spending an afternoon with her kids at Tuesday. “Why should he be able to write off his four cars? I have two cars, I can’t even write off my two cars.”

According to reports, the U.S. government hit its national debt ceiling on May 16 and Congress and President Obama are locked in negotiations about how to pay for the debt. Republicans are asking for significant spending cuts in order to control the debt, while Democrats are pushing for a combination of tax cuts and spending increases. The president’s proposal is said to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next 10 years.

In a CBS News interview, Obama said that the longer the negotiations drag on, it could endanger the delivery of government benefit checks to seniors, veterans and disabled persons. A payment to the Social Security program is due on Aug. 3.

The two sides are set to meet again Wednesday.

“I care about it, I don’t personally think there’s anything I can do about it, but they got to get their (stuff) together,” Robyn Kostulias, another Mineola mother, said.

With the economy still not fully recovered and fears of a possible-double dip recession, Republicans fear any tax hikes could hinder job growth. The economy only added 18,000 jobs in June and the unemployment rate remained at 9.2 percent.

“When they start ‘oh you don’t tax the rich it will kill jobs,’ how the heck did they get rich?” Kostulias’ mother-in-law Carol said. “Didn’t they get rich by creating jobs in industries and using their money for it?”

The consensus among the women was that success should not be punished, as some worked hard in life to obtain success.

“I don’t feel that people well-to-do, because they’ve (worked) to become well-to-do should have to pay a ridiculously higher tax bracket just because they happen to have more money,” Kostulias said. “There has to be a magic number of how much somebody makes a year and when you make over that number you give up certain write-offs.”