Political Quotes

“Let me give my colleagues several reasons why we should defeat this tax proposal, bring it back to the drawing board and come up with something new. No. 1, if we are interested in a balanced budget as quickly as possible, vote ``no.'' Without this tax proposal, economists tell us that in 1 year or 2 years, we will move toward a balanced budget. With this proposal, the deficit will go up in the next several years and it will take us 5 years to move toward a balanced budget. So vote no if you want to get toward a balanced budget as quickly as possible. The second issue, and that is what this chart deals with, is that, if you are interested in helping middle income and working families rather than the rich and the superrich, you should also oppose this legislation. Last year Bill Gates had a good year, a very good year. His personal wealth went from $18 billion to $42 billion, an increase in wealth of $24 billion in 1 year. Putting that into perspective, if you are an average American worker and you saw a 3-percent increase in your compensation, that would mean that you earned $1,000 more last year. That means that 24 million American middle-class workers saw an increase in 1 year equal to what Bill Gates saw an increase in his income last year; 24 million workers, middle-class workers, not low wage workers, end up seeing an increase collectively compared to one man.”