[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 6, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1545-S1546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, this has been a very enlightening morning 
listening to both Democrats and Republicans refuting this myth that 
seems to

[[Page S1546]]

be floating around the country that we are enjoying this great economic 
time when, in fact, the indicators show just the opposite.
  I happened to be presiding when the distinguished Senator from New 
Mexico, Senator Bingaman, observed that people who are doing the work 
in America are getting less and more rapidly plummeting down to the 
point where we were in 1967 in terms of real income or purchasing power 
for the American people. Also we can observe that it is worse than 
might be indicated by family income because we increasingly have 
multifamily members working in America. When I was quite young, it was 
somewhat unheard of. It was not a way of life in America. Nonetheless, 
the real purchasing power is going down.
  I do not like to point fingers as to why this is happening, but I 
think, Mr. President, when you look at the policies that were adopted 
by the current President of the United States, Bill Clinton, it is 
four-tiered. It is increased spending, increased taxes, increased 
borrowing, and increased regulations. I do not very often quote a very 
distinguished talk radio show host but I remember the other day he 
said, ``If you really want to be competitive with the Japanese, export 
our regulations to Japan and we will be competitive.'' I think there is 
a lot of truth to that.

  Some people may have forgotten that back in the first year of the 
Clinton administration, in 1993, there was a tax increase that was 
characterized by Democrats and Republicans alike, and I specifically 
recall the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee characterizing that 
tax increase as the largest single tax increase in the history of 
public finance in America or anyplace in the world. That was a very 
large tax increase.
  I recall, also, when the chief adviser to the President, prior to 
being sworn in for her duties, made the observation that there is no 
relationship between the level of taxation in a country and the 
economic activity, and further went on to say what we need in this 
country in addition to the taxes we currently have is a value-added tax 
to be comparable to that in other industrialized nations that would 
immediately increase revenues $400 billion.
  I suggest this is where this administration has gone wrong, because 
the problem we are having in America is not that we are taxed too 
little, but we are taxed too much.
  I, the other day, on the 9th of January, witnessed the birth of a 
charming little man by the name of James Edward Rapert, in 
Fayetteville, AR. At that time I looked at this very small baby, where 
I was actually there in the room during the delivery of that small 
child in Arkansas, and I realized that innocent child, who had not done 
anything wrong on his own, inherits a share of the national debt of 
$18,000 that that one individual will have to pay off during his 
lifetime. That individual did not do anything to cause this.
  Also, I noticed if we do not change this trend that has been 
continued by the current administration, that that small child, James 
Edward Rapert, will have to pay 82 percent of his lifetime income just 
to support the debt. That is how we have gotten to the point where we 
are now, where we have to do something about it.
  There was a man who came to this country by the name of Alexis de 
Tocqueville many years ago. He actually came here to study our prison 
system, and when he got here he was so impressed by the freedom in this 
country and by the wealth of this Nation that he wrote a book. The 
final paragraph of that book said: Once the people of this country find 
they can vote themselves money out of the public trust, the system will 
fail. And that is exactly where we are today, right on the brink of 
having a system that will fail. The economy is not good today.
  One more thing I want to say before yielding the floor, back to this 
tax thing, is the President has opposed a budget balancing amendment to 
the Constitution. He actually campaigned on a budget balancing 
amendment to the Constitution. Also, he vetoed the Balanced Budget Act. 
When he vetoed that Balanced Budget Act he was saying that we do not 
want to live in the confines where we will be able to eliminate the 
deficit in 7 years.
  That particular act also included some tax relief. There was a lot of 
criticism I heard from conservative Republicans all across the country: 
We do not care about tax relief until we balance the budget. What they 
do not realize is all we were trying to do is correct a mistake that 
was made in this country back in 1993 when we passed the largest single 
tax increase in the history of public finance in America or anyplace 
else in the world. If anyone was not for that tax increase, then they 
should be for tax relief.
  I think it is incumbent upon us, and certainly those in the freshman 
class, who are new here to the U.S. Senate, to have an absolute 
commitment to giving tax relief, to giving families more of the 
expendable income that they work so hard for. That is our commitment. 
It is not just for those of us who are around today but the new 
generations that are coming up, the James Edward Raperts. Incidentally, 
that happened to be my grandson.

  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent morning business be 
extended for a total of 10 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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