[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 130 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H8719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE STORY OF THE RIP VAN DEMOCRATS

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, remember the story of Rip Van Winkle, who 
slept for 20 years, then woke up and was surprised by all the changes 
that had taken place during his slumber? A lot of people do not know 
this, but Rip Van Winkle had some relatives, the Rip Van Democrats, who 
have also slept for a long, long time.
  The Rip Van Democrats slept for 40 years, until waking up in 1995 to 
discover that the Republicans had taken over. But during those 40 years 
of slumber, their liberal friends were out plundering the Social 
Security trust fund and spending it on big government programs. When 
they woke up they were shocked, shocked to find out that the liberals 
had left not only Medicare teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, but 
Social Security as well. So their only recourse was to blame the 
Republicans for the mess that their liberal friends themselves had 
created.
  That is the story of the Rip Van Democrats.

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