Jeb Hensarling: “I rise again this week as part of the Washington Waste Watchers, a Republican working group dedicated to rooting out the…”

“I rise again this week as part of the Washington Waste Watchers, a Republican working group dedicated to rooting out the rampant waste, fraud and abuse that permeates every corner of the Federal bureaucracy. I hope that soon the House of Representatives will be able to vote on a conference report for the fiscal year 2005 budget. Now, we have historically a large deficit in this Nation; and at this time, many of my Democrat colleagues suggest that it is time to yet again raise taxes on American families. Just last week, many voted against marriage penalty tax relief, the very same marriage penalty that would raise taxes on 30 million married couples by $369 next year. Many Democrats keep demanding that we roll back the tax relief that is responsible for the unparalleled growth in our economy, the tax relief that is creating jobs; and the tax relief, if we look at the budget, amounts to 1 percent of the $28.3 trillion, trillion with a T, 10-year spending plan that we approved last year. So if they are truly concerned about the budget deficit, perhaps they should focus on 99 percent of the challenge, and that is, the spending side of the equation, much of which, Mr. Speaker, unfortunately proves to be waste, fraud and abuse. We must all realize that the deficit is the symptom. It is spending that is the disease. It is only the fourth time in the history of our Nation the Federal Government is now spending over $20,000 per household.”