[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15687]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




         THOSE PAYING 96 PERCENT OF TAXES SHOULD GET TAX RELIEF

  (Mr. BALLENGER asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Speaker, here is a fun trick we can play on our 
liberal friends, especially the ones who never tire of saying that the 
rich do not pay their fair share.
  In fact, this is a fun trick that we can play on most Democrats, with 
few exceptions. Ask them how much the rich pay in Federal income taxes. 
After they begin to look pale and ask, what do you mean, ask them what 
percentage of Federal income taxes are paid by the top 50 percent of 
income earners and what percentage of the taxes are paid by the bottom 
half.
  Our liberal friends will not answer that question. Of course, they do 
not have any idea what the answer to the question is, and of course, 
even if they did, they would never tell us. They would be very 
embarrassed to have to admit that the top 50 percent of income earners 
pay 96 percent of all taxes, 96 percent. The bottom 50 percent pay a 
whopping 4 percent.
  Those same liberals then will rant and rave and feign moral 
indignation that those paying 96 percent of the taxes, those who are 
carrying almost the entire load, should get any tax relief at all.

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