Todd Rokita: “In closing, I would like to recall the words of the gentleman from South Carolina, who spoke about the honesty of this…”

“In closing, I would like to recall the words of the gentleman from South Carolina, who spoke about the honesty of this proposed amendment. I think it was an appropriate thing to say. This is an honest proposal. I believe that the proponents of this amendment believe everything that's in the amendment as a possible solution--but honesty, Mr. Chairman, does not equal responsibility. This isn't the people's budget that is being proposed. It is the ``blank check'' budget. You see, it doesn't force any choices. It spends $13 trillion over 10 years. It taxes the American people. It has the Federal Government confiscate from the American people an additional $16 trillion over 10 years. That's not forcing choices. That's not being responsible. Every family in this Nation understands, when they prepare their budgets, they have to make choices. There are different priorities. This just opens up by fiat the right of the Federal Government to dip into the wallets of every American. I heard a lot about tax cuts for the rich, Mr. Chairman. I want to be clear that the budget that came out of the Budget Committee calls for revenue-neutral tax reform. We are motivated by the same reform principles that are in the President's fiscal commission: to broaden the tax base and to lower tax rates for everybody. I was looking at some statistics. The bottom 50 percent of taxpayers pays less than 3 percent of the income taxes. In fact, 47 percent of individuals pay no Federal income tax whatsoever.…”