Representative Peter DeFazio calls the GOP tax overhaul one of the meanest-spirited bills he’s ever seen in his years in Congress. The bill passed the house last week along party lines.

The Springfield Democrat is in Oregon for the Thanksgiving break. He tells KLCC the tax overhaul has been outrageously misrepresented by Republicans. He says it will hit Oregonians especially hard since it gets rid of property and income tax deductions. It also eliminates student loan interest deductions and makes graduate students pay taxes on tuition waivers. DeFazio says Oregon State University estimates this will be a $4,000 increase for every graduate student at OSU.

“This is one of the meanest spirited bills I’ve ever seen.” DeFazio says, “It still creates trillions of dollars of new debt. The promise that it helps the middle class is based on the fact that they say, well if corporations get huge tax cuts, of course they will pass that through as new hires and increased wages.”

DeFazio says that didn’t happen the last time corporations got big tax cuts under the Bush Administration. The tax plan goes to the Senate next week where its fate is somewhat uncertain.

