Political Quotes

“I think if the Presiding Officer had a discussion at some diner in Wisconsin or I did the same in Vermont, and talked to people and said: Look, the wealthiest people are becoming much richer; the middle class is declining; poverty is at an all-time high, how do you think we should deal with deficit reduction? Do you think we should be cutting programs for the elderly, working families, the children, the sick, or the poor, or maybe do we ask the wealthiest people in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes? Maybe--I know this is a terribly radical idea. Today one out of four major corporations pays zero in Federal income tax, because a lot of these multinational corporations are stashing their money in the Cayman Islands and in Bermuda and in other tax havens. I know it is a very radical idea. I guess I am an extremist to think maybe it is more important for corporate America, which is enjoying record-breaking profits--one out of four major corporations pays nothing in Federal incomes taxes--maybe we might want to ask them to pay something in taxes so we do not cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and nutrition programs. I think what goes on around here is our sense of reality is distorted because surrounding this building are not working families--they are too busy back home trying to maintain their family. Not children. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the industrialized world. They are not here.…”