[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3654]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Well, we're hearing the howls from the Republican side. 
Their fat-cat supporters might be forced to pay a fair share of taxes 
in the future, millionaires and billionaires who today are paying taxes 
at a rate less than that of your average schoolteacher or an Army 
captain. They say that that's the secret for a strong economy. Those 
hedge fund managers on Wall Street are doing such a great job, the 
people who brought us the financial meltdown for the United States of 
America that's hurting average people while these people are still 
cruising in their yachts and building their seventh and eighth homes in 
exotic places around the world. They need those tax cuts. That's the 
nostrum for a failing economy: Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts for rich 
people.
  No, how about tax fairness and how about dealing with a sea of red 
ink in this country. You can't do it without asking the wealthiest 
among us to pay their fair share. And restoring some programs that are 
important to the middle class. Yeah, that's right. The rich people 
don't need roads that are up to standard because they're in the back 
seat of a chauffeur-driven limousine. They don't care if they sit in 
traffic for a long time. They're in their private jet. They're in their 
walled community. What do they need for public safety? Their kids go to 
private schools. What do they care about public education? And, hey, 
they don't have to worry about the cost of health care. That's the 
Republican world. We're going to change that with this Democratic 
budget.

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