[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E929]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            TAX FREEDOM DAY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. RON PACKARD

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 11, 1999

  Mr. PACKARD. Mr. Speaker, today is Tax Freedom Day. This is the day 
when American taxpayers have symbolically ``paid off'' their tax burden 
to the government and begin working for themselves.
  The hard working men and women of this country are now working 131 
days simply to pay their debt to the government. When Bill Clinton and 
Al Gore were first elected, Tax Freedom Day was April 30. Today, Tax 
Freedom day does not come until well into May. In fact, Americans are 
now working an additional eleven days before they can start bettering 
their own lives and the lives of their families.
  To put it in basic terms, the average person who works an 8 hour day, 
actually works almost three hours just to pay their federal, state and 
local taxes! The simple fact is Americans pay more in taxes than food, 
clothing, shelter and transportation combined. It is time we put a stop 
to this and provide some much needed tax relief for American families. 
After all, a surplus is nothing more than an overpayment by taxpayers. 
We should give it back.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to continue the fight for lower taxes. It is 
time to eliminate the estate tax, the marriage penalty tax, and provide 
a larger child tax credit and provide an across the board income tax 
cut. American families know best how to spend their money, not 
Washington bureaucrats.

                          ____________________