[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 11, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1916]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




``I DON'T CARE WHAT IT DOES--I LIKE THE CONCEPT''--WORDS OF WISDOM FROM 
                          THE MAJORITY LEADER

                                 ______


                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 11, 1995

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to include in the Record the 
following column by Rick Horowitz from the Palm Beach Post of September 
29, 1995, describing the House majority leader's comments on the flat 
tax proposal.
  According to the columnist, the gentleman from Texas admitted that 
his taxes as a Member of Congress would be lower under his flat tax 
than under current law, but that personal gain was not his motivation 
in proposing a flat tax:

       Rep. Armey insisted that personal gain wasn't the 
     motivation for his plan; he truly didn't know who would do 
     better or who would do worse, or even whether the plan was 
     revenue-neutral or would lead to major funding gaps. In 
     fact--well, these are the words he used:
       I don't care what it does--I like the concept.

  Mr. Speaker, that pretty much sums up the Republican agenda this 
year. I don't know what it does, but it is a new idea and we like the 
concept. You can see it in the medical savings account idea in the 
Medicare Reconciliation bill--which CBO insists will cost the program 
money, not save money like the ideologies of the right proclaim. You 
can see it in the Members who've introduced bills to permit more CFCs, 
because most of the world's scientists are probably wrong when they say 
CFCs are destroying the ozone layer. You can see it in the family cap 
in the welfare bill, because teenagers will quit having sex if you 
starve the babies they have.
  Concepts are wonderful, Mr. Speaker. Too bad the real world awaits.

               [From the Palm Beach Post, Sept. 29, 1995]

                    The GOP Revolution in a Nutshell

                           (By Rick Horowitz)

       Such a reasonable question--two questions, really. And such 
     an interesting reply.
       At last week's annual convention of the National Conference 
     of Editorial Writers in San Antonio, it was conversation 
     pretty much nonstop, with the occasional break for food and 
     beverage, or to hear from some outside force with something 
     to say: the majority leader of the House of Representatives 
     for instance.
       Dick Armey came home to Texas to share a meal, tell a few 
     jokes, make a few points. He brought the latest news from 
     Washington, where the dismantling of the welfare state was 
     proceeding with vigor.
       Rep. Armey methodically set out the accomplishments of the 
     Republican Congress--the hardest-working, most effective, 
     most revolutionary Congress in memory, he claimed--and the 
     outlook for the closing days of the session.
       He fired the requisite shots across the already listing 
     Democratic bow. He talked philosophy. How the market, freed 
     from government interference, can perform miracles. How, 
     beyond a few insignificant exceptions, what a person earns in 
     life squares almost exactly with how hard a person has 
     worked. How, given their respective contributions to society, 
     the high school football coach deserves to be paid more than 
     the high school English teacher.
       And he pushed one of his pet ideas: the ``flat tax.'' Why 
     should Taxpayer X and Taxpayer Y be treated differently by 
     the IRS just because they earn different incomes? Let 
     everyone pay the same rate--17 percent of wages, salaries and 
     pensions, in Rep. Armey's version. People could figure their 
     taxes in minutes. They could file their returns on postcards. 
     What could be wrong with that?
       Then came the post-speech Q&A--a clarification, here, a 
     prediction there--and then one David Bowman was standing at 
     an audience microphone. Mr. Bowman, the editorial-page editor 
     of the Huntsville (Ala.) News, wondered if Rep. Armey might 
     possibly tell the crowd how much he paid in taxes under the 
     current laws. Rep. Armey, momentarily flustered, offered up 
     an estimate.
       Mr. Bowman then asked Rep. Armey whether he'd be paying 
     more or less than that under his flat-tax proposal. Rep. 
     Armey said he didn't know.
       Was there a pocket calculator in the house? (Nope.) Could 
     anybody divide his congressional salary by 17 percent? 
     Finally, he grabbed a pen and did some quick math himself, 
     right there on his speech text. And what do you know? Under 
     the flat tax, his taxes would go down plenty--what a pleasant 
     surprise!
       As the giggles spread in the cheap seats, Rep. Armey 
     insisted that personal gain wasn't the motivation for his 
     plan; he truly didn't know who would do better and who would 
     do worse, or even whether the plan was revenue-neutral or 
     would lead to major funding gaps. In fact--well, these are 
     the words he used:
       ``I don't care what it does--I like the concept.''
       Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican revolution in a 
     nutshell. Concepts. Theories. A straight line on a piece of 
     graph paper. Neat. Clean. Simple. Sterile.
       In the real world--the messy, sloppy real world--``what it 
     does'' matters. ``What it does'' affects actual human beings, 
     whether ``it'' is a new tax system or massive welfare reform, 
     the overhaul of Medicare or the dismantling of environmental 
     protections. Somebody might get hurt out here. Somebody might 
     want to pay attention to that.
       ``I don't care what it does,'' says the majority leader of 
     the House of Representatives. ``I like the concept.''

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