Mark Neumann

That is very true, and I brought another chart with me. This is somewhat surprising to many of the American people. They have heard so much about these draconian cuts that are being made here in Washington, DC, that when I show them this…

So the gentleman is saying for $27,000 a year of cost per volunteer, do I have that right, $27,000 per volunteer? In Wisconsin we usually think of voluntarism as something someone does because they think it is good for their community, but…

Is this not sort of a picture of what really is going on out here in Washington right now? We are looking at these programs and we are finding that in Government spending so much of it is eaten up by this Washington bureaucracy and the…

What is there that would lead the people to believe that somehow, some way, just because you live here inside the Beltway in Washington, DC, you know what is best for the people in the State of Wisconsin. The welfare reform is a classic…

I rise this morning to call attention to what is happening in Washington out here. We are about to conclude legislation that balances the budget, restores Medicare, and reduces taxes on the American people. The front page of the Washington…

I think again we should emphasize that we are now talking about the present, what has happened from 1995 to 1997 and how things are different, and certainly the concept of able-bodied welfare recipients leaving the welfare rolls and going…

When people are on welfare they are depending on the Government for their raise, they are depending on the Government for everything they get. In this place they were taking me around, they were showing me how people left welfare and got…

Yes. Yes. Spending was growing much more rapidly than inflation, almost twice as fast as the rate of inflation.

The average increase in revenue to the Federal Government over the last 3 years was 7.3 percent. Inflation is only 2 rac{1}{2}, 3 percent. So it is going up at over twice the rate of inflation. Revenue to the Federal government. This is…

Faster than what I would like, I might add. But absolutely. Spending would still go up and could go up faster than the rate of inflation. It is important to remember that revenues to the Federal Government grow because of real growth in…

The budget agreement only projects a 4 percent growth. I think it is real important to see that 4 percent number next to these numbers, what has actually been happening. It is very, very conservative. In fact, I asked the question, if…

I want to wrap up this evening with a tribute to a church that I attended twice in the last 3 days here. The church held a very special service and they put in a huge amount of effort. A little church in Williams Bay. It is Calvary…

There is a big danger in this chart. This is where some of our conservative friends look at this and they see that Government spending is still increasing faster than the rate of inflation. They look at this chart and say, why is…

I put another chart up here because I think it is important that we recognize the differences between the past and the present, but we also realize that once we get to a balanced budget we still have this $5.3 trillion debt. That debt is…

That is correct. For a family of five, that translates into $580 a month to do nothing but pay interest on the Federal debt.

it is true, everything the gentleman is saying. But I think the most important outcome here is that it is good for the American people. That is what this is all about. The gentleman has gone back and hit on those past things. I think it is…

And do not forget the other part of that, that is that the Social Security trust fund is restored. It is so important to look at this because if the money is not in the Social Security trust fund, Social Security is bankrupt in the year…

The original 7-year plan to balance the Federal budget. We were to get to zero in the year 2002. We are now in the third year, and it is important to note that the deficit is significantly under those projections. We are in the third year…

That is the past. That is 1993 that we were talking about, where they did literally throw up their hands and pass the biggest tax increase in history. I would just add, as we are discussing what President Clinton is throwing out here in…

If a family is earning $30,000 a year and they are living in this house, the Government does not say you are earning $30,000 a year. The Government, under the Clinton administration, is saying that if they lived in a tent in the backyard…

I just keep coming back to this chart and I just keep thinking of these promises. This is where the deficit was going to get to zero in 1991, the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings promise of 1985 and this is what actually happened. The deficits…

I rise this evening to bring my colleagues and the country as a whole up to speed on where we were, where we are now and where I hope we are going to in this country. I left a very good job in the private sector. I had no experience in…

You know you have kind of moved into a discussion of the future, and earlier this evening before you got into the Chamber here we were discussing the past and the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings and this vision of Republicans of what we do not want…

will it not be great as we go forward now toward the next election cycle, instead of having the discussion of class warfare that we heard earlier this evening, if instead of having that discussion, we talk about the failures of the past…

Can I go back again? I keep going back to this family who has actually got $45,000 a year. It probably means both spouses are working in the house and are probably getting up in the morning and doing everything they can to get those kids…