[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 50 (Tuesday, March 24, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E747]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       UP FRONT, ``THE SKINNIE''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACK KINGSTON

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 24, 2009

  Mr. KINGSTON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to submit for the Record 
this article from ``The Skinnie'' written by Scott Loretti.

       The W-2 summary statement detailing my '08 taxable earnings 
     arrived by mail last week. As usual, I opened it, skimmed the 
     numbers, cursed the government, and reminded myself to be 
     grateful.
       I try to let daydreams of bureaucratic misuse of MY 
     fiercely-fought-for funds die there. Send the thing off to my 
     accountant and be done with it for another year. But, it's 
     inevitable. At some point, I'll say it. Just like you 
     probably have. To your spouse. Your mother. Your financial 
     advisor. Your god. Or yourself. In both anger and disbelief. 
     ``Can you believe I paid (fill in the blank with the 
     appropriate amount) in taxes?! And for what?!''
       But, the point is, you pay them. Just like I do. You might 
     not like it. But you recognize you're not above the law. You 
     were fortunate enough to be born under the Red, White, and 
     Blue, or you found your way here one way or another, and you 
     accept that the privilege comes with costs. You might be 
     summoned to jury duty. You're conduct is bound by a set of 
     laws. You can choose to wear the uniform of a particular 
     service branch. And, if you earn a certain amount of money, 
     the government's going to compel you to surrender some of it.
       So, despite your political inclinations, you should be 
     apoplectically outraged.
       Timothy Geithner is a tax cheat.
       Timothy Geithner is the 75th Secretary of the United States 
     Treasury.
       Among other things, the United States Treasury runs the 
     Internal Revenue Service, the bureau responsible for 
     collecting your taxes.
       Don't be blinded by your ideology. And don't buy into the 
     comically ridiculous notion that this is the only guy who 
     could handle the job. Want the truth? I'll summarize 
     Geithner's resume for you. He has ZERO meaningful private-
     sector experience. He has spent most of his 23-year 
     professional life at three public-sector-focused 
     institutions--the Treasury Department, the International 
     Monetary Fund and The Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Is he 
     a smart guy? Sure. He graduated from Dartmouth and earned a 
     master's degree from Johns Hopkins. Never mind that 
     government and Asian studies were his academic areas of 
     concentration.
       So--ONLY guy for this crucial job during this time when 
     we've embraced (inexplicably) the notion of equivalence 
     between the federal government and our collective savior?! 
     Out of more than 300 million American citizens?! Are we 
     really that naive? Forget naive--stupid. I could reproduce 
     the resumes of my 750 classmates from the Wharton School and 
     you'd probably find 300 that make Geithner look like an 
     underachiever.
       Moving on, we have former senator Tom Daschle. He cheated 
     on his taxes, too. Okay, he's sorry. And, he says, it was 
     ``inadvertent.'' Apparent working definition of inadvertent: 
     When you realize you're about to get caught and you've been 
     named to the President's cabinet, call your accountant and 
     let him know you stole from the American people. Then, start 
     to cover your tracks. When that fails, promise to return the 
     spoils of your theft. Finally, frown deeply and speak in 
     somber tones as you feign contrition in front of the cameras 
     you conveniently assembled.
       Don't misinterpret my message. I can promise you the 
     Democrats don't hold a monopoly on deceit and defamation of 
     the public trust. In fact, Geithner could be a Republican for 
     all I know. And, with certainty, the House of Representatives 
     is home to tax cheats on both sides of the aisle as I type.
        Here's the point. You're giving trillions of dollars to 
     companies that have failed or underperformed. Would you do 
     that with your own savings? Say you own a stock. The company 
     is doing lousy. The management stinks. The industry is dying. 
     Would you take more of your money and double down? Or would 
     you sell so fast your broker's head would spin and redeploy 
     the money elsewhere.
       It's a no-brainer. You don't want to own a portfolio full 
     of dogs. You try to reward winners with good ideas. It's your 
     money. You make the smartest choices you can.
       Well, the ``bailout'' is exactly the opposite. It's the 
     forced allocation of capital to institutions that haven't 
     earned it by merit. In a capitalist economy, capital (where 
     do you think the name came from, anyway?) flows toward 
     opportunities that provide promising returns and away from 
     festering sinkholes of imprudence. Guess what--you don't live 
     in such a place anymore.
       So, throw up our hands or move to Antarctica? No. We love 
     it here. But let's start small. One simple demand. Any public 
     employee at some predetermined level of seniority must be 
     subjected to an IRS audit. Period. Every representative. 
     Every senator. Every secretary and undersecretary. Refuse, 
     and forfeit your spot.
       We have the resources. Instead of randomly auditing a few 
     thousand private citizens, redirect the resources to this 
     end. Remember, all of these people work for us.
       Oh, you argue, ``Qualified people won't seek these jobs.''
       I respond, ``If they cheat on their taxes, they're not 
     qualified.''
       One more thing--something Messrs. Geithner and Daschle 
     probably wouldn't like. If you cheat, you're out. Go try and 
     make a living in the real world like the rest of us.

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