Martin Hoke: “Today is tax freedom day and today we are setting a new record for tax freedom day. It is not a record that we can be…”

“Today is tax freedom day and today we are setting a new record for tax freedom day. It is not a record that we can be very proud of, but it is a record that I think I ought to bring to your attention and to the attention of the American people, in any event, and that is that this is the latest in the year that tax freedom day has ever fallen. In other words, the day on which we celebrate the fact that we are no longer working for the government, but we are working for ourselves, our families, is today later than it has ever been in our history. Mr. Speaker, I think that that confirms what Americans already know in their gut, and that is that taxes are too high and the government costs too much. Consider the following: In 1950, the average-income family of four paid less than 5 percent of its total income in taxes and one wage earner could easily support the entire family on the average income in this country. But today, Mr. Speaker, that same average-income pays about 24 percent to the Federal Government alone, 38 percent when you add in State and local taxes, and that is the highest percentage in American peacetime history. It is no wonder that tax freedom day is falling on the latest day that it ever has in the history of our country. Part of that is the result of tax increases that were enacted in 1993, increases which, as you know, Mr. Speaker, I voted against.”