On the recordApril 16, 2012
Mr. President, I come from humble beginnings. We did not have a lot growing up but we always had what we needed. My mother and father worked very hard to provide for our family and you can be sure they paid their fair share of taxes on their living wage. In the nearly 50 years that I have served in the Senate, I have watched the very rich and their supporters in the Congress whittle away at the Tax Code to the extent that today the average tax rate paid by the highest earning Americans has fallen to the point that one in four taxpayers with an annual income greater than $1 million pays less than millions of working middle-class families. How is that fair? We are making critical decisions about how we cut and spend government funds and it will go a long way to reestablishing fiscal fairness in this country if the very wealthy pay their fair share to support government services and initiatives.
