Kenny Hulshof: “If the gentleman would leave that chart up, the one entitled ``Family Tax Burden.'' I had a question at one time during…”

“If the gentleman would leave that chart up, the one entitled ``Family Tax Burden.'' I had a question at one time during a radio town hall meeting regarding tax relief and was taking a variety of calls. I mentioned that the average family in America today pays more in taxes than they do for food and for clothing and for shelter combined. And the gentleman on the phone asked me how is it that I could make this claim. And as the gentleman mentioned, the total tax burden is nearly 40 percent, 40 cents out of every dollar goes to the government. Think about a typical day. When we wake up in the morning and grab our first cup of coffee, we pay the sales tax; when we drive to work, we pay a gas tax; when we get to work, we pay an income tax; when we flip on a light, we pay an electricity tax; when we flush the toilet, we pay a water tax; if we have cable TV, we pay a cable tax; if we drive home and we happen to have one of these homes the gentleman was talking about with imputed rent, we pay property tax. As the gentleman from South Dakota mentioned, when we die, the government is there taking up to 55 percent of the family farm or family business in death taxes. Now, that is how it is that clearly we are paying much more in taxes than we should. The problem is not that we do not tax enough. The fact is that we here in Washington spend too much, and we are trying not to give back, but letting people keep more of their money.”