Mark Neumann: “In 1993, they raised taxes so they could maintain all sorts of new Washington programs like Goals 2000, like national…”

“In 1993, they raised taxes so they could maintain all sorts of new Washington programs like Goals 2000, like national testing, like all kinds of things. They raised taxes so they could continue the growth of Washington spending, making Washington and the people here bigger and more powerful and more intrusive in our lives. Is that not what it was all about? Now as we curtail the growth of Washington spending, as we slow this thing down, we are fighting to keep this sort of situation from developing, where again Washington steps in and takes the responsibility of parents and teachers and communities and Washington decides what is appropriate to be on this sort of national test and what is appropriate to ask our young people. That is wrong. That is a responsibility of the parents and the teachers and the communities. That should not be Washington's responsibility. We see this fight in almost every time we turn a corner in this city. Whether it be education or anything else, it is every topic. They want more and more control of the lives of the people instead of letting the people have more and more control of their own lives. We see that in the tax cut/tax increase debate as to, who is going to control the money that the people earn, Washington or the people? In education, who is going to control what our kids learn, Washington or the parents and the teachers and the school district?”