[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 162 (Thursday, October 19, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15330-S15331]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            A TAX INCREASE FOR 50 PERCENT OF AMERICAN PEOPLE

  Mr. BUMPERS. Mr. President, I never will forget in 1981 how the wind 
swept through this Senate and accepted Ronald Reagan's promise that if 
we just pass this massive tax cut, it would generate so much economic 
activity and so many taxes that we would balance the budget in 3 years, 
no more than 4 years. That was $4 trillion ago.
  I am happy to report I was 1 of 11 Senators that did not buy that for 
one instant. And, Mr. President, we are getting the same snake oil with 
this bill.
  I applaud a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who have 
committed themselves to dealing with the problem the American people 
have said is No. 1. But there is a time to pass tax cuts, and the time 
to do it is after we balance the budget, not before.
  But having said that, Mr. President, let me add that I would not vote 
for this tax bill if we had a $300 billion surplus this year. I would 
not vote for this tax bill if you held a gun to my head, because it 
betrays every value I hold dear about this Nation. The budget 
resolution that we passed in June said CBO will certify, not project, 
certify a balanced budget by the year 2002. And that once they certify 
it, then the Finance Committee can report out a $245 billion tax cut. 
The problem with that is not only has CBO not certified, they have only 
projected, but once this tax bill passes--and it is going to pass, Mr. 
President, make no mistake about that--but once it passes, the money 
will be gone and unavailable to help meet unexpected obligations like 
recessions, wars, trade wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, or floods.
  A flood 3 years ago cost somewhere between $10 and $20 billion. We 
are still paying for Hurricane Hugo, which also cost billions.
  But here is the reason I would not vote for the tax bill. Look what 
it does. It has a capital gains provision: 76.3 percent--think of that, 
76.3 percent of the capital gains tax cut which costs almost $50 
billion goes to people who make over $100,000 or more. That is about 7 
percent of the American people, including every single Member of the 
U.S. Congress.
  You think I am going to vote for a bill that gives 6.4 percent to 
people who make less than $30,000 a year; 4.6 percent if you make 
$30,000 to $50,000; 6.1 percent if you make $75,000 to $100,000; and 76 
percent to people who make over $100,000? I would not vote for that 
under any circumstances. Those people do not need a tax cut.
  I might also say, my friends in the business community in my State 
say, ``Senator, we don't need a tax cut, we need to get the deficit 
under control. Balance the budget and then talk about taxes.''
  What is even worse--talk about betraying our values--CBO said this 
bill represents a tax increase on 51 percent of the American people. 
That is how 

[[Page S 15331]]
many people in America make less than $30,000 a year--51 percent. They 
get a tax increase out of this when you consider the cuts in the EITC, 
student loans, and all the others. At the same time, the richest 1 
percent of the people in the country get $20,000 in tax cuts. Think of 
that, 50 percent of the people on the lowest rung of the ladder get a 
tax increase, and people making $200,000 a year or more get $20,000.
  What has happened to the country? Why do we do things like that? It 
betrays everything I believe in. During the Depression when I was 
growing up in a family poor as Job's turkey, we looked to the 
Government to help us, not hurt us. It was the Government we turned to 
for sewer systems and water systems and paved streets and rural 
electrification. Today, we are saying, let them eat cake.

  Who wants the tax cut? Seventy percent of the people in this country, 
in a USA Today poll, said reduce the deficit. One-third as many, 24 
percent, said give me a tax cut. There is no clamor for it.
  On the earned income tax credit, President Reagan, Majority Leader 
Dole, Senator Domenici, and many others on the Republican side of the 
aisle have said that is a wonderful program. So what are we going to 
do? We are going to cut it.
  Mr. President, it is not just the tax bill that is so horrendous 
about this thing. There are all kinds of things in there. We continue 
to give away western lands to the biggest corporations in America, the 
mining corporations. And there is $18 million, over a 7-year period, in 
here against the mining companies. They get off scot-free--essentially 
scot-free.
  And then there is ANWR. Open up ANWR up on the north slope. That is 
going to be a tough one, Mr. President. That is going to be debated 
heavily here, because that is the same thing as an asset sale. When you 
sell an asset--as any businessman will tell you--that is a one-time 
bonanza for you. If you put that one-time bonanza into your operating 
budget, you will be in big trouble the next year.
  Mr. President, we are selling our petroleum reserve in Elk Hills, our 
naval petroleum reserves. We are selling 40 million barrels of oil out 
of our strategic petroleum reserve. We are selling everything in the 
world we can lay our hands on, with no thought of what you do for an 
encore, once you sell those assets. Until a few months ago, Congress 
could not count the sale of an asset as a revenue raiser. Why? Because 
counting the revenue from an asset sale fails to show the loss of value 
of the asset. It was only this year that Congress changed the budget 
law to allow asset scoring and count it toward balancing the budget. 
Now that we have changed the scoring process, we are selling everything 
we can get our hands on and counting that against the deficit.
  Let me go back to the earned income tax credit for a moment. The EITC 
helps reduce the poverty rate. Look at this chart. In 1993, 15.1 
percent of the people lived in poverty. By 1994, the poverty rate had 
dropped to 14.5 percent. And if you consider the actual number of 
persons living in poverty, it was down almost one million people. So 
what are we going to do? Cut the earned-income tax credit, even as the 
program is working. There is the proof.
  The other day at this Million Man March, the point was made over and 
over again that fewer and fewer black people are enrolling in college. 
So what are we going to do? We are going to cut education funds by 30 
percent--the most massive cut in the history of the country in 
education. It is going to make it much more difficult to get a loan, 
and then more difficult to pay it off.
  We are torpedoing all the programs that are working. Mind you, there 
are some programs that we need to torpedo, but the EITC and educational 
loans are not among them. I stood on this floor and I fought the B-2 
bomber, I fought the space station, and I fought the super collider. I 
fought so many fights trying to save money to get spending under 
control here, and I lost most of them. Do you know why? Because the 
companies who make those big-ticket items dominate. We are not going to 
solve our spending problems until we reform campaign financing. The 
space station is made in 36 States, and that guarantees that it will 
continue. It is the most horrendous, outrageous waste of money in the 
history of man, and you cannot stop it. But you can sure stop payments 
to old people, who depend on Medicare for their health care.
  You think of it. A $270 billion cut in Medicare. A $182 billion cut 
in Medicaid, health care for the poorest of the poor. I ask for 1 
additional minute.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I object. We were set up for 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection has been heard. The Senator has 
spoken for 10 minutes.
  Mr. BUMPERS. I yield the floor.
  Mr. THOMAS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wyoming is recognized.

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