[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 22, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H2543-H2549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TAXPAYER FREEDOM DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Ellsworth). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 18, 2007, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. 
Walberg) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority 
leader.
  Mr. WALBERG. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity tonight to be 
on this floor to speak on an issue that is near and dear to a lot of 
our hearts, and certainly a lot of our constituents' hearts, because 
tomorrow, April 23, is Taxpayer Freedom Day. It's an opportunity, for 
the first time this year, for taxpayers to start working for themselves 
and not simply for their government to pay taxes.
  On April 15 we paid our taxes. On April 23, days beyond that, we come 
to a point where it is no longer an issue of working to pay just the 
taxes that each taxpayer needs to pay, but now we go on to do for 
ourselves what we can and should do that would allow us to do things 
for others that we would like to do as well, to benefit them, to meet 
needs that cannot simply be met by government, that can be met in 
special ways by ourselves.
  This morning I had the privilege of being at a Big Brothers, Big 
Sisters breakfast fundraiser and hearing an outstanding speaker who was 
from business and industry, a leader in her own right with a major 
corporation in my district, and yet appealing to the fact that in the 
private sector, in charities and special functions, that there is a 
place for finding ways to do it better, quicker, faster, more 
efficiently and cheaper in the process, that there needs to be ways to 
collaborate in such a way that organizations that sometimes are 
redundant and overlap come together, if not to join forces as the same 
group, but to join forces in providing resources to each other that 
they don't have to duplicate. I said to the speaker afterwards, you 
know, that's, indeed, what government ought to be doing as well.
  The only way we will do that, though, is by forcing ourselves to do 
things appropriately to allow the engine of our economy, that being the 
private sector, individual worker, entrepreneur, risk taker, business 
person, industry, to do for themselves only what they can do. And to do 
that, they certainly need to have the resources in place that will 
enable them to function successfully.

                              {time}  2100

  By having to work until April 23 just to pay taxes, that's not the 
right approach to accomplish that.
  I recently was hooked on the HBO mini-series ``John Adams,'' a mini-
series on the take-off on the book written by David McCullough, a noted 
historian on the Framers of our way of life here in the United States, 
our governmental system, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and all that 
makes this country great. And I was again impressed by the character of 
the Framers of our system of government who saw freedom and liberty as 
the ultimate priority and saw that freedom and liberty ultimately 
flowing from individual property rights, individual rights to use 
resources that they had, and the opportunity ultimately in the 
Revolution to break away from the King and be able to control more of 
one's own largesse, limited or great as it might be.
  I was impressed by the character of these gentlemen and those behind 
them, the men and women who supported them. I was impressed with the 
fact that they believed in people, in individuals, in their ability to 
make good decisions, their ability to choose well, their ability to 
spend their resources more wisely, more efficiently, and better, 
certainly, than a larger body known as the government.
  They were also appreciative, Mr. Speaker, of the fact that these 
individuals, in greatness of their own hearts, could reach out and meet 
the medical needs, meet the security needs, meet the housing and care 
needs of individuals, and go beyond just themselves because they had 
ability to do that, if their government allowed them the liberty and 
freedom of choice because they had resources to do that as well.
  I believe that our Framers never ever would have envisioned what 
we've come to today. They would have never envisioned that we, as 
individual taxpayers, would work until April 23, after paying taxes on 
April 15, just to pay the taxes that we paid on April 15. That is what 
they revolted for, that lack of liberty and choice in using their own 
resources.
  Someone far more significant than I once said, ``The ability to tax 
is the ability to destroy.'' I can't talk about other States, and I'm 
delighted to have another Member with me on the floor tonight to 
discuss this issue as well, my friend and colleague and the freshman 
class president, of which I'm part, Bill Sali from Idaho. I can't talk, 
Congressman, about your State, but I can talk about Michigan, a great 
State, a great State of natural resources, surrounded on three sides by 
the Great Lakes if we count our upper peninsula, and I would not forget 
the Upers, surrounded on three and a half sides by the Great Lakes, 
with natural resources in the ground, growing on top of the ground, and 
with natural resources known as human resources that would be second to 
none. A State that has a history of producing things, of manufacturing, 
leading in manufacturing, developing the auto industry. The district of 
which I represent, right in the heart of it was where Henry Ford 
developed the whole process that has become the assembly line approach 
to the auto industry.
  And yet this great State at this point in time sits at, sadly, the 
number one worst unemployment rate in the Nation. According to CEO 
Magazine last week, we rank the 49th worst business climate in the 
United States. We have people moving out of the State to find jobs. We 
have our friends in Indiana recruiting jobs from Michigan and doing it 
far more easily because of what we have done in our State. A State that 
truly is being destroyed by the ability to tax.
  Most recently, the State legislature and our Governor went the wrong 
direction and frustrated any type of turnaround by increasing income 
tax, by putting a tax on services for the first time, and then putting 
a new business tax in place. And then having the cry come up from the 
taxpayer about the service tax, they rescinded that and put a surcharge 
on top of the business tax. And then we have the chutzpah in ads and 
otherwise that say that we are open for business.
  I love my State. I love the people of my State. And I think we are 
Wolverines because we're tenacious, as de Tocqueville said. But we are 
frustrating the engine of the economy by the excessive taxation that we 
have put on.
  I want to talk more about it, but I know Congressman Sali has much to 
say on this as well because, Congressman, you are known, first and 
foremost, as a man of principle, but a friend of the taxpayer, a man 
who came to Congress because of that agenda to provide less frustration 
and more opportunity for taxpayers. And I know that tomorrow you will 
rejoice that we have reached Taxpayer Freedom Day. But I know as well, 
my friend, that you wish it was far sooner than April 23.
  I yield to my friend from Idaho.
  Mr. SALI. I would like to thank the good gentleman for yielding to 
share a few thoughts.

[[Page H2544]]

  Now that the April 15 deadline for filing tax returns has passed, I 
would actually like to ask everyone to consider a few things.
  In 1900 most Americans only had to work until January 22 to fully 
meet all of their tax obligations to the Federal, State, and local 
governments. At that time the percentage of a worker's income needed to 
pay their taxes was just 6 percent. Imagine how much easier life would 
be today if we were done working for the government by the end of 
January.
  And today, Tax Freedom Day, for most Americans doesn't come until 
tomorrow, April 23, as my good friend has pointed out. The deadline to 
fill out your tax forms, it comes and goes, and yet you're still 
working for the government, not for yourself, not for your business, 
not for your family. A third of your income goes to pay the taxes that 
you owe government.
  Government has demonstrated an insatiable appetite to grow. In fact, 
Federal spending has more than tripled since 1965. Almost every week in 
Congress, we are asked to vote to create new programs and expand 
existing ones. Unless there is some urgent need, and there usually 
isn't, I vote ``no.'' Americans just can't afford it anymore. Congress 
is not being careful enough with our hard-earned tax dollars.
  The majority recently passed a budget plan that would raise taxes by 
$683 billion in the next 5 years. That's the largest tax increase in 
American history. It requires higher taxes on married couples and small 
businesses. Their plan also includes no permanent fix for the 
alternative minimum tax that threatens unsuspecting middle income 
Americans to the tune of $70 billion in new taxes.
  And on the horizon are even more tax increases if Congress fails to 
act. Higher income tax rates and higher capital gains tax rates will 
hit virtually everyone. Higher dividend taxes will hit every investor. 
The death tax will be back, as will the marriage tax penalty. The tax 
credit for every child will be cut in half.
  I think Congress needs to recognize that Americans are taxed too 
much, and that is why I am a proud cosponsor of my friend Congressman 
Walberg's Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2007, which would prevent this 
unprecedented tax increase. Congress must make a priority of finding 
ways to lower the tax burden on Americans instead of increasing it. If 
we don't, Tax Freedom Day will soon be delayed until May or June and we 
will reminisce about the ``good old days'' when our tax debts were paid 
in full by April. Well, let's hope and pray that that never happens.
  As a kind of a bookend here on your comments earlier about what's 
happening in your State, I want to let you know, Congressman Walberg, 
in the State of Idaho, we're actually going the other way. This year 
our legislature cut the tax on personal property for businesses. We had 
a tax that was imposed upon the personal property that businesses 
owned, and that's being phased out at least at the bottom, and there 
will be a floor so that if you have less than $100,000, I think was the 
number they settled on, worth of business property, you won't pay any 
property tax on that. It's not just for business, though. It's for 
individuals as well. And I will let you know that in Idaho we have been 
paying tax on the food that we buy, sales tax. This year the 
legislature passed a plan that would increase the deduction that's 
allowed against your State taxes. We call it the ``Grocery Tax 
Credit.'' It will increase that significantly and will reduce the taxes 
that people pay on food.
  This is an important concept because I have kind of a principle that 
I use as a test here, and it's this: If you had a dollar to put 
wherever you thought it would do the most good and you could pick your 
favorite government program or anywhere in the private sector, where do 
you think it would do the most good? What the legislature in the State 
of Idaho has said is we think it will do the most good if we leave it 
in the hands of individuals. It comports with the Founding Fathers, as 
you were referencing earlier. Unfortunately, I don't understand the 
thinking of your State legislature where they are going the other 
direction.
  And I guess this represents the battle that exists within this 
country today. Many people say we live in a divided country. And I 
think that's true. And it's divided, I think, into two main categories, 
the first one being those who believe in the vision of the Founding 
Fathers, that want a government that is there to serve the people, that 
we will have a government that allows people to have the freedom to 
determine what's going to happen in their own lives, allows them the 
freedom to use their personal property, the wealth that they create 
because of that personal property to do as they see fit.
  And that's opposed to the other vision, which is one that says 
government must do more for people. We hear that phrase on this floor 
regularly or some iteration of it: Government must do more. That's not 
what the Founding Fathers thought. This vision that government needs to 
do more, that somehow if the government takes control of a problem, 
that it will be solved. How many times have we looked at a program and 
said why won't this thing work? And the answer, I think, is because 
generally government doesn't work. That was the whole point that the 
Founding Fathers brought to light.
  And I think there are two places where we can see kind of the 
underlying principles that get at these two very different visions for 
our country. The Founding Fathers relied on that vision that was set 
out in the Declaration of Independence; that when they said these 
words, ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal'' and ``endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable 
Rights'' and then later said ``Governments are instituted among men'' 
to protect those rights, that's one vision that says our rights come 
from God and it's government job to protect and respect those rights.
  When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was, I think, addressing a press club 
here in Washington, DC, he described it quite differently. He described 
government as a contract where the people give power to the government 
and then the government dispenses benefits to the people. We call those 
things entitlements today. The vision of the Founding Fathers didn't 
rest at all on entitlements. They rested on rights. That vision that 
wants to see bigger government, government's securing a solution for 
every problem--
  Mr. WALBERG. Reclaiming my time, if I could just pose a question on 
that, why would you say that government should not be flexible and 
mobile enough in order to deal with the changing of times? The right to 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness was the envisionment of the 
Framers of this wonderful country, this wonderful system of government 
as well. But as time went on and problems developed with a much larger 
country, what would you answer to the person who says we should be 
mobile and we should be flexible to meet the needs of people as it 
develops? I pose that to you knowing, I think, what your answer will 
be.
  I yield to the gentleman.

                              {time}  2115

  Mr. SALI. Well, again, I thank the gentleman. It begins with your 
vision of the principles that underlie your vision for how you want 
government in this country to exist. If you have a vision that says the 
principles can change over time, essentially that the truth can be 
molded over time, that there is not absolute truth, then you don't have 
to have that vision of the Founding Fathers. Everything can change. Up 
can be down if you go far enough with that.
  The principles over time that change will lead you to a point where 
you can move from that vision of the Founding Fathers, where they said 
that freedom is the thing that matters the most, where liberty is the 
thing that matters the most. That those rights that are given by God, 
it is the obligation of government, and the reason that government 
exists is to protect those rights. If you can change those principles, 
you can end up with a government that will take care of you and do 
everything for you, and your rights don't matter at that point. It's 
not the government's job to protect your rights that are God-given, 
it's government's job to give you those rights. Again, we call those 
entitlements.
  At the end of the day, when I talk to people who live in my State, 
what they want is they want a future for their kids and their grand 
kids, where they

[[Page H2545]]

will have freedom and security and prosperity. Freedom comes when you 
make fewer laws. Prosperity comes when you take less money out of my 
pocket and give it to government, when Tax Freedom Day comes earlier in 
the year. Security comes when we have things like a strong national 
defense, when we allow our government to do those things that are 
needed to protect the security of the people who live here, and of our 
country itself.
  When I talk to Idahoans, that is what they tell me that they want. 
That can't exist under a government where the people give power to the 
government, and the government distributes entitlements. Whoever became 
free living on entitlements? Whoever became prosperous living on 
entitlements? Who was ever secure living on entitlements that at any 
moment can be changed by the 535 Members that serve in Congress.
  With that, I would yield back to the gentleman.
  Mr. WALBERG. I appreciate those thoughts. I think you got to the nub 
of the question. It's not the fact that we don't want people to have 
those entitlements, we don't want them to achieve, we don't want them 
to have the opportunity that is afforded to all of us here in the 
United States. But it's based upon the fact, first and foremost, that 
there is liberty for us to choose, there's liberty for us to be 
responsible, there's liberty for us to fail, even. And that is quite a 
liberty, when you think about it. But when we succeed, the liberty to 
keep and benefit from what we have, and in order to not only care for 
ourselves, but then voluntarily assist others, and what a liberty that 
is.
  It was said of the Athenians, I read one place, that they desired 
most freedom, security, and prosperity. And in the end, they lost all 
of them because they weren't willing to keep liberty first and 
foremost.
  So I appreciate your comments tonight on this eve of Taxpayer Freedom 
Day, where government often times says why celebrate that? It's your 
duty to pay the taxes, it's your privilege to pay taxes. Well, I do 
thank God that I have the opportunity to live in America and I have the 
opportunity to earn and I have the opportunity to pay a certain level 
of tax to support a certain level of government that is needed. But I 
am frustrated that we have gone way beyond that and lost liberty in the 
process.
  I'd like to turn over now some time to another good friend and 
colleague from Tennessee. David Davis has been an outspoken friend of 
the taxpayer, and I think evidenced by his willingness to battle for 
the taxpayer and to continue to support prosperity that has blessed his 
State of Tennessee, and continues to, and sadly, has become home to a 
number of my Michiganders as well, who have gone for places of 
employment, and have benefited there. Congressman Davis, we hope to 
bring some of those back to Michigan.
  In the meantime, I appreciate you taking the opportunity to talk 
about the issue of taxes, Tax Freedom Day, and your concerns with it.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Thank you, Mr. Walberg. Thank you for 
your friendship, thank you for leadership. You're doing a great job. 
Thank you for your foresight and understanding that you can't tax and 
regulate yourself into prosperity. Never could, can't now, and never 
will. It's that simple.
  I do come from the Volunteer State of Tennessee, and thankfully our 
Tax Freedom Day is not tomorrow. It was actually about 3 weeks ago. The 
reason it was 3 weeks ago in the Volunteer State is because we keep our 
taxes low, and people in Tennessee are actually spending their money on 
their families now and not sending it to the government. I am happy for 
that. I'd like to see that move even back up in the year a little more.
  There are mothers and fathers all across east Tennessee. I have the 
opportunity to represent the beautiful mountains of northeast Tennessee 
and there are mothers and fathers sitting back home in east Tennessee 
and all across America. They sit around their kitchen table and they 
have to work out a budget. It's that simple.
  I can remember my wife and I when we first started our family, having 
to do that, knowing how much money came in and how much money went out. 
We had to make some decisions. You can't spend more than you bring in. 
If you do, you get in a credit crunch. It's amazing that we have a 
Congress that sometimes don't sit around that kitchen table. That is 
exactly what we need to be doing.
  Those families back in east Tennessee, they are having to choose 
between buying gasoline, and it costs over $50 to fill up their pickup 
truck, and buying their food. They're seeing the price of milk and 
bread go up. They are having to worry about paying their house payments 
or making sure they provide health care for their children. Those are 
the things that moms and dads across America are having to deal with 
and we have got people right here in Washington that think if we can 
just tax them a little bit more and spend a little bit more, we can 
take care of them.
  Now where I grew up, I never came to the conclusion if government 
could just take care of us, things will be okay. Actually, the way we 
believe back in the mountains in east Tennessee, if government will 
just get out of our way and keep taxes and regulations low, we have 
actually been able to take care of ourselves pretty well. We have done 
it well in America for over 200 years, and why we think we need to 
change now, I just don't understand it.
  Especially when you look at gas prices. My goodness, we passed an 
energy bill, so-called energy bill back in December on this House 
floor. It had new taxes, new regulations. You know what it didn't have? 
New energy. Now how you can call a bill an energy bill with no energy, 
I don't get it. Sometimes we just need some common sense. The American 
people get it. They understand that common sense.
  And then you look at the budget. The two things that are facing 
Americans today are their family budget, their small business budget, 
and then that cost of energy. Those are the two things that are on 
peoples' minds across America. And you look at the Democrats' budget 
resolution, it fails the test of fiscal responsibility miserably. 
Instead of exercising fiscal restraint in lowering our taxes, the 
Democrat budget raises taxes by $683 billion over the course of the 
next 5 years. You heard me correctly: $683 billion.

  Now I go home to my district every weekend, talk to a lot of people 
about a lot of issues, and I can tell you not once do I hear somebody 
say, If you could just raise the budget by $683 billion and take a 
little bit more of my tax dollars, my family is going to be better off. 
I don't hear, If you can just pass an energy bill with no energy and 
just put a little more tax on top of the energy and regulate them just 
a little bit more, then my family is going to be better off. That is 
not what the American people are looking for.
  If you look at $683 billion, that is the largest tax increase in 
American history. It blows away the previous largest tax increase in 
history, which was passed in 1993, and that was over $443 billion. 
These are real tax hikes on real people.
  Here are some staggering statistics for families living in northeast 
Tennessee. According to the Heritage Foundation, because of the 
Democrat budget, the average taxpayer in my district will be forced to 
pay an increase in $1,596. This will result in almost 2,000 jobs lost 
and a loss of $188 million in the First District's economy.
  When I go home every weekend, I don't hear people say, Please raise 
my taxes so we can lose 2,000 jobs. We are actually seeing jobs move to 
Tennessee because we keep taxes low and keep regulations low. We are a 
good work State. We have a good work ethic. We certainly don't need the 
Federal Government to come in and help us to move us in the wrong 
direction.
  By reimposing the marriage penalty tax, roughly 23 million taxpayers 
will see their taxes increase by $466 a year simply because they are 
married. Now in east Tennessee I don't go home every weekend and hear 
people say, I want you to raise my taxes just because I did what is 
biblically correct and I did the right thing.
  We have choices. We have choices between a bigger economy or a bigger 
government. Taxing spending is not the road we need to head down. 
Ronald Reagan once said we don't have a trillion-dollar debt because we 
haven't taxed enough, we have a trillion-dollar

[[Page H2546]]

debt because we spend too much. That is common sense. That is the type 
of logic I hear when I go home to east Tennessee every weekend.
  I think we as Members of Congress need to be more concerned about the 
budgets of mothers and fathers that they have to put together sitting 
around kitchen tables every month rather than growing the Federal 
budget and taking money from those very mothers and fathers that have 
to sit around the kitchen table every month.
  Mr. WALBERG. That is common sense, I would submit to my good friend, 
isn't it?
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. That is the common sense that the 
American people are looking for.
  Mr. WALBERG. And not status quo government.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. I hear a lot about hope and change. 
Really, the hope that people are looking for is just the hope that they 
can fill up their gas tank, the hope they can buy a gallon of milk, the 
hope they can buy a loaf of bread, the hope they don't have to spend 
all their money to take care of government, the hope that the 
government will let them go out and have that life, liberty, and 
pursuit of happiness that you were talking about earlier with our good 
friend, Mr. Sali from Idaho. That is the hope that the Americans are 
looking for, and the change they are looking for is just to get back to 
some common sense principles that worked over 200 years very well.
  The Founding Fathers knew exactly what America needs. I look around 
this beautiful room and I look behind you and it actually says: In God 
We Trust. That is the type of change we need in America. We need to get 
back to some of those bedrock principles where we allow people to go 
out and pursue happiness.
  You know, one of my favorite quotes is from Henry Ford. Henry Ford 
once said: If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. 
The American people think they can. But they think they can't if they 
see government continue to get bigger and go bigger and bigger. We talk 
about taxing and spending. The reality is you spend, then you tax. So 
it should really say spending and taxing.
  So we have got to keep the spending low, regulations low, taxes low, 
and the American people will go out and succeed. There's no better 
people anywhere in the world than right here in America. We have a 
great work ethic, we have great values, we have great morals, and we 
can take care of our families if we will just allow families to take 
care of families.
  I would like to see if you have any comments.
  Mr. WALBERG. Well, I have a lot of comments on that, but you said it 
so well. I appreciate the commonsense approach from a place where Davy 
Crockett roamed. I know that for a fact.
  Again, we are talking about, Congressman Davis, we are talking 
liberty. We are talking about people who say I am not asking for 
anything except the opportunities. I am willing to be responsible. 
Generally speaking, I am willing to be held accountable. If I have the 
resources to use, the resources to spend, if I have the resources to 
save, to invest, and take the risks as necessary, if I have a job that 
I can produce those resources and move further, all it says is that I 
get more liberty and I get full use of it. If I am tied to April 23 as 
my time when I can say I finished paying taxes for this year to the 
Federal Government, now I can buy for myself, but I have got to start 
thinking about paying taxes next year April 15 as well, it ties me 
back.
  None of us here on the floor aren't saying there is some tax base 
that is necessary. But what we are saying is we have gone way 
overboard. When you pointed out that if the majority proposal Democrat 
budget goes through and it's paid for as they intend with a $683 
billion tax increase, which was passed, which does away with all of 
those tax relief issues that we had in 2001 and 2003, and have 
benefited this great country since that time, and then it adds other 
things to it like the marriage penalty back into it, does away with the 
ending of the AMT, alternative minimum tax, an onerous regressive tax 
that's strapping down more of our taxpayers than ever were assumed to 
be in it. If we put all that in place, we see less liberty, less 
freedom, more opportunity for abuse by government that doesn't know how 
to say no.

                              {time}  2130

  We end up frustrating ourselves again, don't we.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. I wanted to thank you for your 
leadership in introducing the Tax Increase Prevention Act. That is 
exactly the type of leadership we need. You are a great leader in your 
State. You are a great leader here on the floor of Congress and in 
America. Thank you for the opportunity to be a sponsor of this 
legislation. Together we will make some changes. God bless you.
  Mr. WALBERG. I thank my friend. I only have to think about the fact 
that to the taxpayer in my State, that if this $680 billion tax 
increase goes through to pay for additional spending, deficit spending, 
in a budget that goes way beyond what is necessary, it means that on 
top of the burden that my State government has given to the hard-
working taxpayers of Michigan, it gives a $3,000 per taxpayer increase 
on January 1, 2011, automatically. And, like you, my taxpayers that I 
meet with each weekend back in the district and in the 140 town hall 
type meetings I have held since January 4th, they are not saying, Mr. 
Congressman, please give us more taxes. Please give us more gas tax. 
Please raise the cost of our fuels. They are not saying that at all. 
They are saying, give us some freedom. Give us some liberty. Give us 
some relief. Let us do for ourselves what we can and should do, if we 
have the resources to do it. So you hit it right on the head.
  I am privileged tonight as well to have another good friend and 
colleague, a member of our freshman class, an outstanding spokesperson 
for the taxpayer, for all things that people like John Adams and 
Jefferson and Washington and others spoke for when they framed all that 
we are pleased with in the United States, the Congresswoman from 
Minnesota, Michele Bachmann.
  I am sure you have significant things to say about this great event 
we have tomorrow, Tax Freedom Day. But looking on the other side of the 
picture, why in the world we have to have that type of a day so late in 
the year?
  I yield to the Congresswoman from Minnesota.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. Congressman Walberg, I want to thank you for your 
leadership during this special hour that we are enjoying this evening, 
talking to the American people about Tax Freedom Day. For a lot of 
people, they just can't believe it when they find out what the 
definition is.
  I can't thank you enough for your leadership, not only for this 
special hour to talk about this very special day that is coming 
tomorrow with Tax Freedom Day eve, you might say this evening, but also 
with your leadership on the Tax Increase Prevention Act. I can't thank 
you enough for the work that you are doing, not just on behalf of the 
great constituents that you have in Michigan, but on behalf of all 
Americans, because the last thing Americans need right now is a tax 
increase. So we all thank you, and I thank you that I have had the 
opportunity to sign onto your legislation as well.
  I couldn't help but think when Congressman Sali, our fellow freshman, 
was standing here earlier, he is a gentleman who fought for years in 
his own State assembly in Idaho for tax cuts and for fiscal sanity in 
Idaho. I think that is why the people in Idaho sent him here, because 
they knew they could trust Bill Sali. They could trust him to come to 
the floor and make the case for fiscal sanity in our country.
  When we see tax increases around every corner, what was it, maybe 6 
weeks ago we saw that the majority passed I believe it was a $683 
billion tax increase for the budget, the largest tax increase in 
American history. I know I was flabbergasted when I saw that. Could it 
be possible that the Congress, in a time of a weakened economy, would 
come here to this Chamber, to this floor, and make a decision like 
that, that they would heap burden upon burden upon burden upon our 
constituents? I didn't think it would be possible.
  Then when I listened to our fellow colleague, Congressman David Davis 
from the State of Tennessee, who has said so well so many times about 
the average American family, who sits

[[Page H2547]]

around their kitchen table wondering are they going to be able to fill 
up their gas tank tomorrow morning when they get up and go to work? 
What about buying that gallon of milk? You go to the grocery store and 
you see that grocery store prices have gone up 64 percent since the 
beginning of the year.
  Mr. WALBERG. If I could break in, didn't we hear at the beginning of 
this year, January 4th and prior to that, that if the majority party 
had control we would see the prices go down on gas and other things? 
Didn't we hear that? Have we seen that take place?
  Mrs. BACHMANN. Well, I think the gentleman already knows the answer 
before he is asking the question, because it has been now hundreds and 
hundreds and hundreds of days since the majority said to the American 
people that they had a commonsense plan, they had a commonsense plan 
for reducing the price of gasoline. And as of today, the average price 
of gasoline across America is now a whopping $3.51.
  I went with our family this weekend, we went to visit my father-in-
law. It was his 84th birthday on Sunday. So we had my daughter's car, 
because it had the best gas mileage of any car that we had in our 
family, so we took her car. On the way back, we were in Baldwin, 
Wisconsin. We pulled up to a gas station. We put gas in. I could not 
believe it. It was $45 that I put in her little gas tank. Just a few 
years ago, that is what we spent on our big conversion van, our high-
top conversion van. We are not alone. We are here as Members of 
Congress, but we hear this every day from people back home.
  Let me give you just one example. You remember Art Linkletter and the 
show that he had years ago called House Party? He had a little segment 
called ``Kids Say the Darndest Things.'' I loved that segment.
  I thought about that, because just recently I went to speak to 
Minnesota Pheasants Forever. It is a wonderful outdoor heritage group. 
I love to do that. That is one marvelous thing about being a Member of 
Congress, you can go to speak to great groups about things.
  So I went to go speak to them. So I laid my notes, Congressman 
Walberg, on the island in our kitchen, and it said ``Minnesota 
Pheasants Forever.'' Our little daughter Caroline came, and she picked 
up the notes and she said, ``Mom, what is Minnesota peasants forever?'' 
And I said, ``Well, Caroline, that would be the taxpayers of the State 
of Minnesota.''
  The reason I say that is because tomorrow will be Tax Freedom Day, 
and in Minnesota, we are a little bit worse off. Our Tax Freedom Day 
won't occur until next Sunday.
  What that means for people across America that might be listening to 
our repartee as we go back and forth tonight, Tax Freedom Day is the 
first day the American people stop working for Uncle Sam and start 
working for themselves. When you average all your Federal, State and 
local taxes together, the American taxpayer spends the first 113 days 
of the year as a Federal employee. Basically, that is what it comes 
down to. We are all Federal employees because we are working for the 
man. We are not working for ourselves.
  Mr. WALBERG. And that is not the idea that the framers of our 
Constitution had in mind.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. That is exactly right. You talked about Adams and 
Jefferson. We have the wonderful privilege, you and I and Congressman 
Davis, we have the wonderful privilege of being a part of that great 
cloud of witnesses that went before. They laid down the freedom.
  Just think, it was a stamp tax that our founders were willing to lay 
down their lives for, their fortune, their sacred honor. They were 
willing to give up everything, just to throw off a stamp tax. My 
goodness, we do that just in the morning before we have even gotten to 
lunch yet around here. I can't believe the level of tax increases we 
have seen, can you?
  Weren't you floored coming here as a new Member of Congress? I know 
if there is one thing that I have learned, Congressman Walberg, in the 
time I have been in Congress, what has been now maybe 15 or 16 months, 
it has been how easy it is to spend somebody else's money. How easy it 
is. I know it isn't for me. It is really hard for me to spend my own 
money, and it is really hard for me to spend other people's money. I am 
not there yet. I haven't drank that Kool-Aid. But I am floored when I 
see how easy it is for Members of this body to spend other people's 
money. What is your reaction to that?
  Mr. WALBERG. Well, it is very similar, if I might add, to see how 
large expenditures go out with so little oversight, and so much 
statement that, oh, well, it has to be done. If we don't do it, who 
will? And there are so many needs.
  Well, there are. I mentioned earlier this evening I had the 
opportunity to attend a breakfast fundraiser for Boys and Girls Clubs 
in my area. They do a great work, and they are doing it on the basis of 
individual contributions, corporate entities that give not only 
financial support, but also human support as well.
  The speaker, a president of a major industry in my area, she said it 
so eloquently, that it has come to a point in time where we have to 
find ways to reduce the cost by drawing together and not having 
redundancies that add cost, but become more efficient and more 
effective doing not only the same work, but more work for less cost as 
a result of the effort that is shared.
  In government we have to get that concept. We have to understand that 
there is a person called the taxpayer, and a taxpayer that is not of 
unlimited resources, especially if we want to keep freedom around so 
that our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren will enjoy 
the benefits we have. If we are to pass it on to them in such a way 
that they will have equal or better freedoms than we had, we have to 
get on the stick.
  So, absolutely, I have been floored since coming here that it is so 
easy to spend money in this Chamber without thought of actually who 
will generate those resources, and we frustrate the engine of the 
economy.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. If the gentleman will yield further, that has been my 
impression as well. It strikes me to think that the serfs in the Middle 
Ages paid over about 25 percent of what they earned in the year to a 
nobleman. We could only wish, many of us, that 25 percent was our total 
tax burden. We haven't seen that in this country for many, many years. 
It is almost unthinkable that the serfs in the Middle Ages would be 
better off from a tax point of view than the average American taxpayer 
today. We are far beyond 25 percent of our income.
  As a matter of fact, don't you agree, Congressman, that it would be I 
think very enlightening for most Americans to learn that they spend 
more on their tax bill, they pay more on their tax bill, than they do 
for food, clothing and housing combined?
  The average American works 108 days to pay for their food, their 
clothing and their housing. They work on average 113 days to pay their 
tax bill. Just think of that. Those are necessities that Americans 
can't do without. You have to have food, you have to have clothing, you 
have to have housing. But the one thing that will happen is that you 
will go to jail if you don't pay your tax bill.
  I am a former Federal tax litigation attorney. I tried a lot of cases 
in Federal Tax Court. The reason why people showed up when it was time 
for their court date was because if they didn't show up, the judgment 
may be that they go to jail. Because in this country if you don't pay 
your tax bill, you have the potential of going to jail. So that is the 
first bill you have to pay, because if you don't pay it, you may end up 
in a place you don't want to be, so a lot of sacrifices have to be made 
by a lot of people.
  I will tell you one thing, and I think you would agree as well, 
Congressman. You have probably seen a lot of waste, a lot of fraud and 
a lot of abuse in legislation that has gone through this body. We will 
be taking up legislation tomorrow that is trying to squeeze waste, 
fraud and abuse out of the Medicare system.
  Don't you agree, Congressman, that is something that the American 
people have been looking for for a long time? I know you are a 
reformer. I know you came here because you did not want to be part of 
the status quo. You are an outsider, and you came here because you 
wanted to change the way that Washington does business. I feel the

[[Page H2548]]

same way. I know that Congressman Sali shares that opinion and 
Congressman Davis shares that opinion. We are not about continuing the 
levels of waste, fraud and abuse.
  Mr. WALBERG. It can't continue. If it does, we have lost it all. 
Jefferson said the government that governs best governs least. And it 
wasn't simply govern least to allow people less opportunity, but it is 
to give them more freedom; to give them more of their own resources to 
make better decisions for themselves, making better decisions on basic 
needs.
  That was the genius of what we had here in a capitalistic system, a 
system that said we will offer freedom and opportunity. You make your 
choices, you determine your lifestyle. And, in turn, as we also 
encouraged through supplementing what went on in the home, what went on 
in the school, what went on in the church and making it a common theme 
that we are our brother's keeper, but it is with our own resources, 
with our own choices, the opportunity that we have to expand and meet 
needs of others.
  Ultimately in doing that ourselves, we are also blessed. We also felt 
the warmth of saying I lifted someone up that was falling, and I also 
know that there are plenty of others who would come to my aid, 
individuals who are family members, who are community members right 
from my own area that would reach out, and, at last resort, if 
necessary, maybe there was something in the government.
  But it is reversed now, where the first place we go is the 
government. Of course, that causes the ramp-up of costs that now 
results in the largest tax increase in the history of the United States 
being offered and passed just recently.

                              {time}  2145

  And, if allowed to be completed and my legislation isn't put in place 
to make permanent those tax relief issues of 2001 and 2003, we will 
have a $683 billion tax increase over the next 5 years, and on January 
1, 2011, the taxpayers in my State and across the country, generally 
speaking, will pay upwards of $3,000 more the day after December 31 
than the day before. That is not the way to go. We have to stop it. The 
taxpayers out there, whether they be in Tennessee, Minnesota, Michigan, 
Ohio, or Indiana, are all saying the same thing; they just want us to 
hear an answer.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. That is right. And if the gentleman would yield, I 
would absolutely agree. And that is why it is important and imperative, 
I believe, that we shout it from the rooftops. This is not a 
hypothetical we are talking about, this is reality that we are talking 
about tonight, the fact that these tax cuts right now are on automatic 
pilot. They are going away. They are the engines that have propelled 
the growth in this economy, both with the cuts on capital gains and on 
dividends, that has provided the jobs, the growth, the unparalleled 
level of prosperity that we have enjoyed. It is all going away if we 
don't stop that.
  That is why I thank you again, Congressman Walberg, for being willing 
to sponsor this important legislation. It is why I am on it, it is why 
Congressman Davis and so many of our colleagues are on it. As a matter 
of fact, there is a piece of legislation that I believe you signed on 
recently as well as I signed on; this is one that our colleague John 
Campbell came up with, and that is putting a spending ceiling on what 
Congress can spend. Because I think that Congressman Davis said it very 
well earlier: We have a spending problem. That is what leads to our 
taxing program. And John Campbell came forward, the Congressman from 
California, and he said, let's put a ceiling on government spending, 
and let's make sure it is not more than one-fifth of GDP.
  What is GDP? Gross domestic product. Well, what is that? That is 
basically everything that we produce in this country every year. Just 
think of that. Government eats up one-fifth, almost one-fifth, 20 
percent, of everything that is produced in this country just to run the 
machine. Sometimes I think that government is just a big money eating 
machine, and we are all the people that are working to stoke that 
furnace to keep it going. But this legislation that we signed says that 
there is a limit. We are going to draw a line in the sand, and no more. 
And that is what your great legislation does as well, the Tax Increase 
Prevention Act, it draws a line in the sand and it says we are going to 
keep this prosperity going, and the way we do it is by cutting those 
taxes.
  Mr. WALBERG. And I appreciate that fact. There are good pieces of 
legislation, whether it be setting a cap on spending or setting a 
moratorium on earmarks, and looking at a way to get control of that so 
we are not wasting dollars. These are common-sense issues that 
taxpayers generally look at and say, what is the problem? This ought to 
be just common sense, to have a line item veto, to have a balanced 
budget amendment. All of the above speaks to the common taxpayer, which 
I am one and you are one and all of us who have spoken tonight are one. 
It speaks common sense to the taxpayer saying, this just ought to be 
the way it is, because we are willing to do for ourselves if you leave 
us the opportunity.
  So I certainly appreciate your passion on this issue and the fact of 
your awareness of tax issues having been a tax attorney and 
understanding that, while there are taxes necessary, that we have gone 
way beyond the limit. We have gone beyond reality.
  There is little debate right now on Capitol Hill about whether the 
American economy is struggling. That is just there. We recognize the 
fact. And some of us who are in States that are struggling even more 
so, like my own wonderful State of Michigan that has all of the 
resources available, and yet we are frustrated. The real conversation 
in living rooms across the country is about how to get our economy 
moving again.
  Essentially, this debate boils down to one question, the question 
that I was asked in conversations in town hall meetings that I have in 
various ways, and that question is: Should America promote economic 
growth and job creation, or raise taxes to destroy jobs and economic 
opportunity?
  Right now, Republicans, our colleagues are asking all House Members 
to decide which side of this debate they are on by forcing votes on a 
bill that I introduced that we have referred to tonight, that is the 
Tax Increase Prevention Act, House Resolution 2734. House Members have 
to choose whether they support Speaker Pelosi's budget proposal that in 
total is the largest single tax increase ever promoted in the history 
of the United States, a $3,000 per taxpayer tax increase overnight.
  With so much money already being wasted in Washington, I believe it 
is wrong for Congress to try and take more money out of the paychecks 
of hard-working Americans. My bill, to make more point about it, would 
make permanent the tax relief of 2001 and 2003, and stop tax increases 
on raising children, earning money, saving and investing, operating a 
small business, adopting a child, paying off college loans, and even 
dying.
  Consider the implications of the Democrat's proposed $680 billion tax 
increase in 2011 alone. Marginal income tax rates will increase by 
anywhere from 9 percent to 50 percent, with the lowest tax bracket 
receiving the highest tax rate increase. That is not talking to the 
rich and wealthy, that is talking again of the lowest tax bracket. 
Capital gains rates for individuals will increase dramatically, 
punishing saving and investing. Restoration of the marriage penalty 
tax, that is a punitive tax that thankfully we got rid of, and now they 
want to put it back. The child tax credit will be slashed 50 percent, 
raising taxes by $500 per child. The death tax will go from 0 percent 
to 55 percent.
  I have always held the conviction that the American citizen should 
keep as much as their hard-earned money as possible. With Americans 
facing rising health care costs, high energy prices, and economic 
instability, the last thing families need is to be hit with a massive 
job killing tax increase.
  Every week in my home State, I meet with Michiganders, as I did this 
weekend, who are working harder than ever before and at best breaking 
even. Michigan families and businesses have, unfortunately, felt 
firsthand the powerful negative impact of tax increases. These working 
families' wages have been slashed by higher taxes on income and on 
small businesses. During our Governor Jennifer Granholm's 
administration, Michigan has experienced job

[[Page H2549]]

losses, declining personal incomes, diminishing home values, and the 
highest unemployment rate in the Nation, sadly. By proposing a massive 
$3,000 per taxpayer tax increase, Democrats in this Congress are 
following the same failed blueprint that has threatened to ditch our 
economy in Michigan and destroy Michigan jobs.
  Instead of working on tax hikes that ultimately make America less 
competitive, I believe Congress should stop this $683 billion money 
grab from taxpayers. Congress could better spend time eliminating 
ineffective and inefficient government programs, making health care 
more affordable, and passing any energy legislation to move America 
toward energy independence and reduce energy prices.
  The debate over whether to raise taxes is just the beginning of a 
long battle over America's economic future. By making tax relief 
permanent and continuing to grow our economy, Congress can go an awful 
long way to restore the trust of the American people, build a better 
and brighter future for our country, and avoid the economic suffering 
now felt in States like Michigan.
  It doesn't have to be that way. And I certainly appreciate the fact 
that there are those of us who are fighting for taxpayers' interests. I 
know the 13 of us who came in as freshmen came in for a reason. That is 
the smallest freshman class in the history of the United States, 
probably. But we came in resolute that the taxpayer was to be served; 
that taxpayers were paying too much, not too little; that we were 
regulating too much, not too little; that we were destroying the 
incentives of private hard-working citizens, risk takers, entrepreneurs 
to do the job that they can only do. Government doesn't do that. And 
that is why 13 of us came while others lost and weren't sent back 
because of overspending and overtaxing.
  And it is sure a privilege to join with the both of you here in the 
room tonight. I guess I would offer opportunity for any final comments 
before we are forced to close this interesting conversation this 
evening, hopefully of benefit to the taxpayers out there on this eve of 
tax freedom day. Hopefully it has been interesting, but more than that, 
it has been something that would stir them into action as well to say: 
Enough is enough, and we stand for freedom.
  Mrs. BACHMANN. If the gentleman would yield. I want to thank you for 
your wonderful words and your eloquent statement and your deep passion 
that you have stated. And you are again to be commended for the Tax 
Increase Prevention Act. Thank you for doing that, and for putting this 
evening together to let the American taxpayer know that tomorrow is a 
day of freedom, but it is also a day of reality to realize, finally, 
that we are going to be able to take off our ball and chain and be 
unshackled and finally breathe again and be able to work for ourselves.
  But when Americans go to the pump tomorrow, I just want to remind 
them, Congressman Walberg, when they go to the pump and they put $1 
worth of gasoline in their vehicle, over 60 cents of that dollar will 
go to taxes in one form or another. Just think about that. We hear a 
lot about oil companies and about profits, but when you have $1 of 
gasoline, over 60 cents of that dollar goes to taxes. That is something 
we really need to think about here in Congress. We need to consider it. 
It is just a microcosm, just a picture of the heavy tax burden every 
day that impacts the average American. I can't thank you enough for 
putting this together this evening.
  Mr. WALBERG. I thank my friend from Minnesota, and appreciate your 
passion as well in fighting this good fight.
  I would yield now to the Congressman from Tennessee, David Davis.
  Mr. DAVID DAVIS of Tennessee. Thank you, Mr. Walberg. Thank you for 
your leadership. I would like to thank Mrs. Bachmann for your interest 
in this, your hard work here in Congress.
  I really appreciate your leadership in this and understanding that 
you can't tax and spend and regulate yourself into prosperity. The 
American people understand it. It is a simple principle. We need to 
start thinking outside the Beltway, not inside the Beltway. And if we 
do those things with lower taxes, lower spending, we will actually 
start to produce energy in America again, start to use American oil and 
American coal, safe nuclear, those things to bring down the energy 
costs. If we bring those taxes, those regulations down, then the 
American people will go out there and have those jobs. The best 
economic stimulus package in America is a good paycheck. And thank you 
for your leadership.
  Mr. WALBERG. I thank the gentleman from Tennessee. And, again, I 
trust this has been helpful for taxpayers to hear at least some that 
will defend. And there are others in this Congress. It has been said 
that we are red state, blue state, totally divided in this country. 
When you get to the common-sense issues, the virtues that people see as 
common sense, we are not divided, we are not red state, blue state. We 
are a common based unified people that believe in common sense things.
  Jonathan Witherspoon, one of the signers of the Declaration of 
Independence, said: A Republic once equally poised must either preserve 
its virtue or lose its liberty. Virtue of hard work, the virtue of risk 
taking and entrepreneurial spirit, the virtue of accountability, of 
responsibility, of honesty, of integrity, those are virtues. And they 
go all into what makes our country great and what our taxpayers 
generally commit themselves to on a common base. And when we break down 
those virtues and give those away, we destroy ourselves and our liberty 
in the process.
  So let's fight together to stop this $683 billion tax grab that will 
frustrate this country and take it back as opposed to pressing it 
forward. I thank my colleagues for spending this time with me tonight.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

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