Richard K. Armey: “I chuckle at what I am hearing here today. Actually I am amazed. I am hearing all these reasons why we should not give…”

“I chuckle at what I am hearing here today. Actually I am amazed. I am hearing all these reasons why we should not give people tax relief. Have we ever before heard so many reasons for not doing the right thing? "It's too big." "It's too soon." "What's the rush?" "It's too risky." "People don't want it." "We can't afford it." "You've got the cart before the horse." Beam me up, Mr. Speaker. This bill, Mr. Speaker, is the least we can do. The American people are paying the highest taxes in peacetime history. Families pay more in taxes than they do on food, clothing and shelter combined. We have had 15 years of tax rate increases and retroactive tax hikes. Americans now work 1 hour and 57 minutes out of each working day just to pay taxes to Washington. The American people are working hard. They produced these huge tax surpluses. They have earned some relief. They now deserve something, this year. Mr. Speaker, this tax relief is the least we can do. Mr. Speaker, the American people are nervous. They see the economy slowing, they see their neighbors losing their jobs, they see their 401(k)s and their mutual funds shrinking, while their energy bills double, triple and even, in California, quadruple. Their credit card debts are going up. They expect us to do something.”