David Minge: “it appears that the debate of the day is over the marriage tax penalty, and we have had a very attractive picture of a…”

“it appears that the debate of the day is over the marriage tax penalty, and we have had a very attractive picture of a young couple at their wedding and an indication of what it costs that young couple. I do not think there is any real disagreement in this body over the importance of eliminating the marriage tax penalty. The real question is when do we do it and how do we do it. There have been estimates circulating in Washington that the plan that the Republican leadership will be trotting out this week will cost three times as much as would be necessary to eliminate the marriage tax penalty if it were limited to moderate income taxpayers, such as the couple whose picture we have seen. Also, there is a great deal of concern as to how we avoid simply being caught up in the enthusiasm of doing something by Valentine's Day. Well, for one thing, we ought to at least be adopting a budget in this body on a timely basis and making sure that our elimination of the marriage tax penalty fits into the budget that we are dealing with. So, Mr. Speaker, I think that we would do well to admonish ourselves to proceed in a very deliberate fashion, to consider the alternatives, and to make sure that by the time we are done we are proud of our product and we are proud of our process.”