[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 173 (Friday, November 3, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S16674]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    CUTTING TAXES NO MATTER THE COST

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, our colleague, Senator Russ 
Feingold, has been leading the charge in trying to get us to use common 
sense and not have a tax cut at this point.
  I have been pleased to join him in this effort.
  The Chicago Tribune, a newspaper that is independent but with a 
slight Republican leaning, had an editorial titled, ``Cutting taxes no 
matter the cost'' that makes a great deal of sense.
  I ask that the editorial be printed in the Record.
  The editorial follows:

                    Cutting Taxes No Matter the Cost

       Republican lawmakers who know better will swear that a tax 
     cut is necessary, that the savings from balancing the budget 
     and shrinking government should go to small businesses, 
     families with kids and others who will spend it better than 
     Congress.
       The same lawmakers will insist that they must honor a 
     House-Senate compromise reached last summer to cut taxes by 
     $245 billion, even though a few will acknowledge that a 
     smaller number--or better yet, no tax cut at all--would make 
     their job of balancing the budget in seven years that much 
     easier.
       But for now, as Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee 
     clearly showed last week, the need to maintain party unity, 
     appease the party's conservative elements and confront 
     President Clinton on the budget is overriding sound judgment, 
     economic logic and tax policy.
       On Friday, Republicans on the tax-writing panel announced 
     they had agreed to a $245 billion package of tax cuts over 
     seven years that includes a permanent $500-per-child tax 
     credit, significant reductions in capital gains taxes and 
     breaks for corporations. The unanimous agreement insured that 
     the measure will pass the full committee this week and made 
     it likely it will be added to a budget-balancing bill for a 
     full Senate vote later this month.
       The deal also ended weeks of growing GOP division over tax 
     cuts. Several weeks ago, for example, Sen. Bob Dole of Kansas 
     candidly suggested that a smaller tax cut package might be 
     appropriate and that it made sense to let the expensive 
     family tax credits expire in five years. He was attacked 
     immediately by rival presidential candidate Sen. Phil Gramm 
     of Texas for backpedaling on the promised GOP tax cuts. Soon 
     after, Dole ditufully got back in line.
       In fact, the $500-a-child tax credit is the package's 
     costliest provision, yet does nothing to boost long-term 
     economic growth. But Gramm and conservative constituencies 
     like the Christian Coalition believe families that forgo 
     income to raise children deserve an allowance, and they're 
     insisting on nothing less.
       What many Republicans still don't get, however, is that 
     their own analysis say the tax cuts will add $93 billion in 
     extra debt and interest payments to the $5 trillion of red 
     ink that the nation has collected.
       Any savings earned from balancing the budget should be used 
     to shrink the national debt, not to finance tax breaks. That 
     would be the fiscally prudent course. But, as the Finance 
     Committee has shown, politics outweighs prudence of any kind 
     these days.

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