[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H1395-H1396]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        AMERICANS ARE OVERTAXED

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, the previous speaker spoke about what is 
wrong. What is wrong is to lie to the American people and say something 
is a cut when it is not a cut. The Republican Medicare proposal last 
year increased Medicare funding $190 billion to $270 billion. That is 
not a cut.
  Now, if my colleagues on the other side say it is a cut, either they 
have a

[[Page H1396]]

huge math disorder or they are a liar, period. I certainly would hope 
that we have a math disorder on the other side that maybe we can reach 
out through one of the 706 social programs sponsored by the Department 
of Education and help those who failed in mathematics to understand. 
They are getting paid $134,000 a year to serve in the U.S. Congress. 
They ought to be able to know an increase from a decrease, and then 
they ought to have the forthrightness to be truthful about it.
  Mr. Speaker, the situation is this: The American people are 
overtaxed; Medicare has gone broke; we have a proposal to fix it. They 
are separate issues. Balancing the budget is a separate issue. The 
Speaker offered the President a balanced budget without tax cuts. The 
President is the one who has rejected it, not the Speaker. We are 
trying to work with the other side. We are not trying to fight them.

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