[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 66 (Tuesday, May 21, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H2668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           REPUBLICAN TAX CUT MEANS LOWER TAXES FOR THE POOR

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, before our tax cut, the top 50 
percent of taxpayers paid 96 percent of all the taxes paid in the 
country. After this tax cut, the top 50 percent of taxpayers pay 97 
percent of all the taxes paid in this country.
  Let us say it another way, Mr. Speaker. Before the tax cut, the lower 
50 percent of taxpayers paid 4 percent of all the taxes in the country. 
After the tax cut, they pay only 3 percent of all the taxes in the 
country.
  Help me understand, Mr. Speaker, how this tax cut was a tax break for 
the rich. It seems to me it was a tax break for the poor, because the 
lower 50 percent of taxpayers now pay only 3 percent of the total 
taxes, rather than 4 percent. Mr. Speaker, that is a 25 percent 
decrease in the taxes paid by the lower 50 percent.

                          ____________________