Gilbert Gutknecht: “Nonetheless, let us talk about what it was like growing up in the 1950s. In the early 1950s, the average American family…”

“Nonetheless, let us talk about what it was like growing up in the 1950s. In the early 1950s, the average American family sent to Washington about 4 percent of their gross income. And I was really fortunate because my mom and dad could raise me and two brothers, three boys in our family on one paycheck. Mom was always there when we came home from school, when we were doing things around the house, mom was there. Things have changed a lot in the last 30 years. Back then they paid 4 percent of their gross income to the Federal Government. Today, the average family sends 25 percent of their gross income to the Federal Government. What a difference that makes. Today, the average family spends more on taxes than they do for food, clothing and shelter combined. And that is what is really driving a lot of the things you are talking about because we have changed the nature of the family. We have decided somehow in Washington that we could spend money smarter than the American family, that by creating more and more government programs that somehow we could improve the moral and the social fabric of this country. The facts just do not bear that out. As a matter of fact, most Americans now believe that the fabric, the moral fabric of our country today is in worse shape than it was back in the 1950s. More government programs clearly are not the answer. Strengthening the cornerstone that makes our society work, strengthening the American family really is the answer.”