[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9254-9255]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1245
                         WHY 20 PERCENT OF GDP?

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, in a year when, for the first time in memory, 
the Pelosi Congress is failing to adopt a budget, I am proud to 
cosponsor a spending limit amendment that would place a cap on Federal 
Government spending.
  Tax rates go up and down, tax laws change, the economy changes; but 
in the past six decades, Federal tax receipts have stayed consistent at 
nearly 20 percent of GDP. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed last Monday, 
Economist David Ranson explained this effect. He notes: ``The tax base 
isn't just something you can kick around at will. It represents a 
living economic system that makes its own collective choices.'' In 
other words, we can't fight against the natural level of maximum 
taxation. If we raise taxes, we won't collect enough to reduce our 
deficit, and we will restrain economic growth.

[[Page 9255]]

  We have been living outside of our means, borrowing and spending and 
bailing out for far too long. The Spending Limit Amendment, based on 
economic reality, is a sensible measure that will keep our government 
in check.

                          ____________________