[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 24 (Wednesday, March 1, 2006)]
[House]
[Page H457]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       VIEW FROM THE COUNTRY CLUB

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Madam Speaker, the view from the country club is great. 
We have heard a few Republicans waxing poetic about how good the 
economy is. Jobs, prosperity, happy days are here again. All due to the 
tax cuts.
  There is a real result to the tax cuts. Last year we had the largest 
deficit in the history of the United States. We borrowed hundreds of 
billions of dollars and we are going to hand the bill only to people 
who work for wages and salary, who generally earn less than $100,000 a 
year, and to their kids and grandkids.
  The wealthy should not pay any portion of that in their version of 
America because they are the wealth generators. The fourth increase in 
the national debt since George Bush took office; 60 percent increase in 
the national debt. That is the result of their tax cut policies.
  And wages, they have not budged: 99 percent of the people in America 
working for wages and salaries saw their real incomes decline last 
year. One percent did well, those $300,000 and up, and $1.3 million and 
up, they did great. And those are the folks they were having lunch with 
when they heard how great the economy is in America. I wonder who 
picked up the tab.

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