[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15904]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          REPUBLICANS WANT TO HELP BOTTOM 50 MOVE INTO TOP 50

  (Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, the top 50 percent of income 
earners pay 96 percent of the Federal income taxes. The bottom 50 
percent are carrying only 4 percent of the load.
  My colleagues heard that right. The bottom 50 percent are paying 
almost no Federal income taxes at all, just 4 percent of the load.
  Guess who President Clinton and the Democrats want to give a tax cut 
to? My colleagues guessed it: the 50 percent of taxpayers who are 
paying almost no taxes already.
  ``Aha,'' my liberal colleagues will say, ``just as I have always 
suspected. The only people you Republicans care about are the top 50 
percent.''
  Now, I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to listen 
closely. That kind of thinking perfectly misunderstands what 
Republicans are about. Republicans want to help the bottom 50 percent 
move into the top 50 percent.
  In fact, most people do just that over the course of their lifetimes. 
They start out young and have entry-level jobs and incomes, and then 
they move up in education, experience, and in income.
  Democrat rhetoric constantly, constantly seems to imply there are 
fixed categories, haves and have-nots. This is just not true.

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