David Skaggs: “I would just like to engage the gentleman for a moment in a further discussion of the short history that we have--I was…”

“I would just like to engage the gentleman for a moment in a further discussion of the short history that we have--I was going to say enjoyed, but at least experienced under the so-called three-fifths rule which was adopted at the start of this Congress as a rule of the House governing the required majority; that is, three-fifths, whenever, we are considering anything that is construed as having a tax increase. Now, first the proponents said it would apply to any increase, and then they said only to income tax increases, and then only to certain types of income tax increases. My sense is that the correct interpretation of this rule of the House remains the subject of a great deal of debate and confusion and inquiry. The saving grace, if you will, is that the majority has show that it is quite willing to waive the application of that rule as a matter of course whenever it is inconvenient to have to deal with the new rule that they adopted.”