Political Quotes

“Mr. President, last week in Chicago, we announced tax freedom day--the day that marks the time when Illinois residents have paid their Federal and State tax burdens. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan organization that determines tax freedom day, found that this year Americans will pay more on their tax burden than they do on food, shelter, and clothing combined. Tax freedom day falls on April 15 in Illinois and on April 12 nationwide. Yet tax freedom day underestimates how heavy the government's burden is by only reflecting the size of the bills we actually pay to the government, not the spending we are pushing off on future generations in the form of higher deficits and debt. If we paid all of our bills to the government, the way it spends money, tax freedom day would not come until May 23. With a government that consumes so much, it is fair to ask: Is the government spending as efficiently as possible on programs it is funding? Sadly, it is very clear that waste, fraud, and duplication still exist widely in the Federal Government. To call attention to these issues, I introduced the ``silver fleece award'' in homage of Senator William Proxmire's ``golden fleece,'' but this one is made of silver, not gold, because we are headed for more austere times. In the month of February, this award was voted by Facebook users on ``waste book'' and was given to a program awarding $1 million to provide signs displaying poetry in zoos.…”