Political Quotes

“I said earlier that Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey came to town today and put on a great performance of elephants and clowns outside of this building, but it does not come close to the high wire act that is being performed here by the daredevils of the high wire of this legislation who are attempting through blue smoke and mirrors to pull a rabbit out of a hat and dangle the American taxpayer from the high trapeze bar, suggesting that this bill somehow will achieve deficit reduction. For the average Federal employee earning $40,000 a year the Republican proposal imposes an additional $1,000 in taxes resulting from increased contributions to their pension system, and I have yet to hear somebody on the other side talk about the plight of Federal employees regarding this. More than half of the tax benefits will go to families with incomes between $100,000 and $200,000. Is $200,000 a year middle class? You go figure. If you earn $100,000 you get $11,000 in tax reductions, but if you earn $30,000 you get $124 in tax reductions. This bill increases the deficit. It rewards the wealthy, it punishes working Americans, and I do not care what people say, when you take money out of their pocket, $1,000 per Federal employee, that is a punishment. So in the end, the difference between last year's Republican rhetoric and this year's Republican rhetoric is a matter of Tweedledee and Tweedledum.”