[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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