President Clinton had earlier decided to not veto this legislation on grounds if Congress had agreed to accept his Medicare prescription drug plan. They didn’t, so he has gone ahead with his threat and vetoed the bill. But this is not the only reason for the veto. The president feels that this bill only benefit the higher income couple while the rest of them really don’t feel the benefits of it. This bill wanted to increase the limit on the taxable income that will get taxed at 15%. The current limit is $43,850, and the bill would increase it to $52,500. Meaning for the higher income couples that more of their money will be taxed at lower percentages while people who only make about $50,000 a year won’t really be affected by it.
President Clinton wrote in his letter to Congress on the veto, "We should have tax cuts this year, but they should be the right ones, targeted to working families to help our economy grow -- not tax breaks that will help only a few while putting our prosperity at risk." He also wrote that his administration was working on a better and more fiscally responsible piece of legislation that will be introduced in the fiscal year 2001. The President feels that the Marriage Tax Relief Bill of 2000 devotes a large proportion of its benefits to the higher income couples and not enough to the rest of the Americans.
