Sam Gibbons: “it was just 2 short years ago that the Clinton administration proclaimed that the era of big government was over. My, oh…”

“it was just 2 short years ago that the Clinton administration proclaimed that the era of big government was over. My, oh my, how quickly things have changed, Mr. Speaker. Now judging from his most recent budget proposal, the era of abusive bloated Federal bureaucracy is alive and well under the Clinton administration. What other possible explanation could there be for $128 billion in new taxes in his 1999 budget proposal? In all fairness to the President, however, he has the right, as he has in the past, to propose all of the tax increases that he desires. Certainly it is his prerogative as the top elected official of this country. However, Mr. Speaker, I think most people will see through this big government, big tax increase proposal for exactly what it is: a thinly disguised effort by the administration to once again stick its greedy hands into the pockets of every working man and woman in America. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of any money we all may have left.”