Political Quotes

“I rise to sound the alarm against a huge tax hike on 2 million Americans that has been slipped into H.R. 1215, the package of tax reforms that will be considered on this floor today. Here are the facts: Fact: The rule governing today's tax debate prevents a clean vote for the tax reductions that were promised in the Contract With America. We will be asked to vote on a package that includes a 2.5-percent payroll tax hike that would cost every Federal worker between $3,500 and $11,000 over the next 5 years. The Congressional Budget Office has scored this as a revenue which means that it is a tax. And that's not all. Fact: The same tax package would reduce lifetime benefits for Federal workers by 4 percent by changing the retirement formula to reflect the highest 5 years of salary as opposed to the current formula based on the highest 3 years of salary. This provision simply makes it more expensive for Federal workers to retire on schedule and encourages them to stay on the payroll longer to make up for the losses in planned retirement benefits. The tax hike supporters claim that this revenue is needed to fund the CSRS retirement system. Let's look at the facts: Fact: None of this increased revenue will be set aside in a trust fund for the benefit of future Federal retirees. Instead, it will go into the general treasury to finance tax cuts for others.”