[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16744]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



     DEMOCRATS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE REPUBLICAN TAX RELIEF PACKAGE

  (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, why is it so difficult for the other side 
to accurately describe the Republican tax relief package? Do we need to 
offer a prize to the first Democrat to acknowledge that we set aside $2 
for Social Security and Medicare for every $1 of tax relief.
  Do we need to call 60 minutes and ask them to do a story on the first 
Democrat to admit that our budget contains $2 trillion in debt 
reduction over the next 10 years.
  Do we need to have a CBO analyst conduct seminars in their offices in 
order to prove that our budget sets aside 100 percent of retirement 
surplus for Social Security and Medicare?
  Do we need to hire interns fresh out of college to draw a picture of 
the Social Security lock box in order to illustrate the concept of 
locking away the Social Security surplus?
  I ask my colleagues, Mr. Speaker, what does it take?
  Day after day I hear the exact same line, the same false rhetoric to 
describe a Republican proposal that does not exist. Two years ago, it 
was Mediscare, and now this. It is truly sad.

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