[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 90 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[House]
[Pages H4225-H4226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TAX BREAKS FOR THE WEALTHY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 21, 1997, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Pallone] is 
recognized during morning hour debates for 3 minutes.
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, sometimes a cartoon says it all, and over 
the weekend a cartoon appeared in the Home News and Tribune and the 
Asbury Park Press in New Jersey and its message was right on target. It 
shows two characters from the TV show ``The Simpsons" both reading the 
newspaper with the headline, ``GOP Tax Plan''; but Mr. Burns, as a 
representative of the rich, says, ``Excellent,'' while Homer Simpson, 
as the symbol for the middle class, can only respond by saying ``Duh.''
  This really sums up the way the American people will react to the tax 
bill being pushed by our Republican colleagues. If taxpayers happen to 
be wealthy, if they are somebody who does not have to worry too much 
about making ends meet or paying for their kids's education, then this 
plan is for them. If, on the other hand, they are part of the vast 
majority of the American people in the middle class or the lower end of 
the income scale and they could use a little help, well, under the GOP 
plan they are just out of luck.
  Another generalistic analysis appeared in yesterday's New York Times 
under the headline ``Study Shows Tax Proposal Would Benefit the 
Wealthy,'' with the subhead, ``Wider gap is seen between rich and 
poor.'' The Times reports that the 5 million wealthiest families in our 
country would gain thousands of dollars, while the 40 million families 
with the lowest incomes would actually lose money, with the effect of 
widening the already growing gap between the richest and the poorest 
families as a result of the Republican tax plan.
  The Times article cites a study that was conducted by the Center on 
Budget and Policy Priorities of the tax plan approved by the 
Republicans last month in the House Committee on Ways and Means. And 
although the Committee on Ways and Means' Republican staff disputes the 
Center's study, the Republican staff calculations conveniently cover 
only the first 5 years before the big tax breaks for the wealthy start 
to kick in well into the next century.
  The rapid growth of these provisions favoring the wealthy, phased in 
later

[[Page H4226]]

to hide their true extent, indicates that the revenue cost for this 
Republican tax scheme will explode in the outyears threatening not only 
the balanced budget that the Republicans claim to support, but also 
threatening vulnerable programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
  Mr. Speaker, I have to say that far more outrageous than these tax 
breaks for the wealthy is what the Republican tax plan does to the 
least affluent working families, those struggling just to get in or 
stay in the middle class. The Republican bill denies a $500 child tax 
credit to more than 15 million working families because it does not let 
them count the credit against their payroll taxes. Those are the taxes 
that are deducted from a worker's paycheck.
  Some of our Republican colleagues have claimed that working families 
who qualify for the earned income tax credit are welfare recipients 
and, Mr. Speaker, this is an outrage. The people who qualify for the 
earned income tax credit are working people, as the words ``earned 
income'' attest.
  No less a conservative than Ronald Reagan himself praised the EITC as 
a great incentive for helping people make the transition from welfare 
to work. And I have to say, Mr. Speaker, this week we are trying to 
illustrate, as Democrats, in human terms the implications of the 
Republican tax scheme.
  I have in New Jersey a woman named Debra Hammarstrom, a resident of 
Toms River, New Jersey. She is the divorced mother of two children. I 
am going to continue this later, Mr. Speaker, because I am very opposed 
to this tax plan.

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