[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14094]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



              WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET LIBERALS OUTRAGED?

  (Mr. SCHAFFER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SCHAFFER. Mr. Speaker, what would it take to get Congress 
outraged over high taxes, a tax code that looks like it was designed by 
Saddam Hussein and an IRS less accountable than the weather man? Is 
there anything at all that would provoke liberal Democrats to denounce 
the greedy hand of government, the insatiable force of government and 
the government's sponsored erosion of our liberties?
  If they knew that Taxpayer Freedom Day, the day when Americans are 
finally finished paying Uncle Sam was May 12, would that outrage them? 
If the White House knew that average middle class families pay 
somewhere around half of their income to the government, would that 
outrage them?
  If they knew that most Americans pay more in payroll taxes than they 
do in Federal income taxes, would that outrage them? If they knew that 
the tax code was so complicated that even Members of Congress on the 
House Committee on Ways and Means have to hire professional help to 
figure out their tax forms, would that get anyone's attention around 
here?
  If they knew that the IRS is simply incapable of reforming itself, 
would that spark their outrage?
  Mr. Speaker, just what does it take?

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