Melvin Watt: “Mr. Speaker, this debate is always interesting at this time of the year. Every year, for the last 6 years, around April…”

“Mr. Speaker, this debate is always interesting at this time of the year. Every year, for the last 6 years, around April 15, this same or some version of this proposed constitutional amendment has come to the floor of the House, not as a serious legislative initiative, because I think it has always been acknowledged that there is not sufficient support for such a constitutional amendment. Instead, it comes to the floor as a political vehicle to dramatize and have a discussion about whether taxes are too high or whether the expenditures are out of control. We have a political discussion in the context of a proposed constitutional amendment. I want to submit to my colleagues, however, that this is not a discussion about whether taxes are too high or not. If you ask probably 10 out of 10 people on the street whether taxes are too high, all 10 of them will tell you taxes are too high. It is not a discussion about whether we spend too much money.”