mr. speaker , i rise to support the underlying bill and to oppose the substitute .  and this is the reason why : my state , tennessee , has seen more than $ 250 million in taxpayer savings a year from the sales tax deduction we passed in 2004 .  the tax relief extension act that we are passing today will extend that .  there is no excuse not to support this matter of tax fairness for states like mine .  it is great for our economy ; it is great for tennessee 's main streets .  and those hundreds of millions of dollars are being pumped back into those local economies .  my state should not be penalized for choosing an alternative tax system .  it is a better tax system .  we want to keep it .  i know many of my friends who are blue dogs supported the tax cut , and i hope that they are going to join us today and vote for the majority 's bill .  tennesseeans are watching this vote .  mr. speaker , i do not know how many different ways we are going to have to talk about this economy and the fact that it is booming , jobs creation , home sales up , productivity soaring ; but some never let facts get in the way of their political agenda .  if you read the new york times , the washington post , or listen to many of my colleagues , you believe that our economy is dismal and we have not created a single solitary new job .  one important thing the federal reserve noted : since we passed these tax relief measures in 2003 , american households have increased their nest eggs , their retirement security , their savings by $ 10.5 trillion , $ 10.5 trillion net worth development by american households .  finally , mr. speaker , this bill before us today , this bill has a provision that helps our nation 's songwriters .  as chairman of the congressional songwriters caucus , we worked to correct an inequity in the tax code that penalizes them when they sell their life 's work .  the bill solves that .  i thank my friend from kentucky ( mr. lewis )  and chairman thomas for their work on this issue .  