[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 29, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H5629-H5630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE TAX TRAP

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Kingston] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, as I travel around the first district of 
Georgia I meet a lot of people--in Savannah, Brunswick, Statesboro and 
also in the smaller towns like Odum, Reidsville, Glennville--and 
basically wherever I am having town meetings, they are always asking 
the same questions; Why are so many families across America struggling 
to keep their heads above water? Why are Americans working harder and 
harder and having less

[[Page H5630]]

to show for it? Why is it that many people, many families, have to have 
two jobs just to make ends meet?
  I think we can summarize everything in two words: the tax trap. It is 
simple to explain. It is simply this: the harder you work, the more 
taxes Washington makes you pay. The more taxes you pay, the longer and 
harder you have to work. You end up working harder and longer, and 
Washington ends up with more but you end up with less.
  It is like the old doodle bugs we used to catch when we were kids, 
Mr. Speaker. The doodle bug builds a cylindrical trap. Ants come 
walking by and they fall into the cylindrical trap, and then they try 
to dig themselves out. The harder the ant digs, the more dirt falls on 
the ant. Then that doodle bug is just sitting there with his pinchers 
ready and his mouth wide open, and when that ant is exhausted, the 
doodle bug comes up, grabs him, and sucks him on down.
  That is what is happening to middle-class America right now. We are 
just working harder and harder, trying to get out of this big trap set 
by the Washington bureaucracy, and Washington, just like the doodle 
bug, is winning.
  When I was a child, Mr. Speaker, the biggest investment a family made 
was the family home, but today it is taxes. We send more money to the 
tax collector than we spend on food, clothing, and shelter combined.
  My parents grew up in an America that promised that if they worked 
hard and saved and did the right thing, you too could enjoy the 
American dream. But today children in my generation and the many 
generations coming after me are afraid they are not going to be able to 
share in that American dream.
  The Washington bureaucracy, though, has enjoyed it. They have enjoyed 
this fruits of our labor. Today the bureaucracy in Washington has grown 
to an all-time high. Our Government alone costs us $1.6 trillion a 
year, Mr. Speaker. It is way out of control. It has 160 different 
Federal job training programs, 240 different Federal education 
programs, 300 economic development programs, and 500 urban aid 
programs. How much is enough, Mr. Speaker? The fact is all these 
programs are probably well-intended, but they take money off the table 
of middle-class America.
  Look at the President of the United States. He ran under a promise of 
a middle-class tax cut and instead passed the largest tax increase in 
the history of the country. Today, because of President Clinton's 
policy, the typical family pays $2,600 more in taxes than they did on 
election day 1992--and think about the insecurity the middle-class 
Americans have.
  I think about Karen Goddard. Karen and I worked together for about 10 
years. Karen and Ian had 2 incomes and they had 4 kids. Despite the 
fact that they worked hard, it was very difficult to get those kids' 
college education paid for. even though they had done everything right, 
Mr. Speaker, it still did not matter.
  I think about people like Charles Sieler and Tracy Smith, who are 
going to be getting married in July. Once they get married, Mr. 
Speaker, their tax burden will become higher than it is individually 
because of their horrible marriage tax penalty where we actually tax 
people more once they are married than they were as single people 
before them.
  I think about people of my dad's generation and--now I am getting up 
there, I am 41 years old; my dad and his friends, my old teachers, my 
Sunday school teacher, the people who used to drive me to Little 
League, and the people who used to drive me to the Dairy Queen on hot 
Sunday afternoons--elder senior Americans that I have known all my 
life. Now it is their turn to retire and enjoy the fruits of their 
labor, but they are not sure that Medicare is going to be there 
tomorrow and all of them are on Medicare, Mr. Speaker.
  We have got to have fundamental changes in Washington, because our 
policies affect real people with real problems. This tax trap, Mr. 
Speaker, is really sucking us all in. We have got to break free of it. 
I believe we have to have fundamental reform in Washington. We have to 
change our education system, to put more local autonomy in the program. 
We need to have legal reform. We need to change the Washington 
bureaucracy. We need to have a health care plan that is more affordable 
and more accessible.
  Mr. Speaker, these are the policies this Congress is moving toward. 
We need to continue these reforms. I am proud to work on them.

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