War is Making You Poor Act

Mr. Speaker, today I introduced H.R. 5353, the War is Making You Poor Act. The War is Making You Poor Act does three things: First, it requires the administration to carry out the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with only--only--the $549 billion set forth in the President's budget for defense spending, without the additional $159 billion the President has asked for for the sake of the so-called emergency war, which now stretches on to 9 years in one case and 7 years in the other. My view is that $549 billion is enough for these wars or any other wars the President plans to engage in.

What this does, secondly, is that it takes the money that is saved from the war separate allocation and it uses that for a very important purpose with our economy the way it is and people in America suffering. It takes that money--or 90 percent of it--and it uses that to make $35,000 of everyone's income in America tax-free. And $70,000 for married couples. Let's be clear about that. Let's be clear about what I said. With the money that is being saved by the War is Making You Poor Act, we can make $35,000 of every American's income tax-free. And $70,000 for married couples. And in addition to that, it takes the remaining money and reduces the Federal deficit and the Federal debt. I think those are three things, all of which need to be done. This bill brings them all together.

Let's start with the fact that the administration has asked for $549 billion to basically keep the lights on at the Pentagon, and beyond that, asked for another $159 billion for the wars. Let's see exactly how much that means. On this chart here, you can see that U.S. military spending is as much as the entire rest of the world combined. As much as the entire rest of the world combined. And in fact, the ones who come in second are NATO allies in Europe, who I don't expect to be attacking us any time soon. Beyond that, you have to go all the way down to China to get to any country that is conceivably ever going to be a military enemy. And we outspend China by over five to one. Beyond that, we get into our allies in East Asia and Australia, and you have to go all the way down to Russia, whom we outspend by almost ten to one, before you get to any country that could conceivably be a military opponent.

Why is this necessary? If we're going to have military spending that amounts to this much--half of all the military spending the world--do we need to have on top of that--on top of that base budget--another $150 billion for the war? I think not, particularly when the people in America are suffering.

So I believe that the thing we need to do is to take that $159 billion that the President has set aside. We're not saying he has to stop the war. We're not giving a cutoff date for the war. We're simply saying you need to fund that out of the base budget of $549 billion. And we take 90 percent of that money and give it back to the American people.

I think most people would be surprised to learn that that is so much money that we have been spending on the war in Afghanistan and the war in Iraq that every single taxpayer in America will be able to get his first or her first $35,000 of income completely tax-free. You won't see dollar one in tax until you make more than that. In fact, almost a third of Americans don't make more than that so they will simply be excused from the Federal income tax system. And all we need to do is to stop separately funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now I've heard a lot of complaints from the other side and complaints from people on our side about the Federal debt and the Federal deficit. Here's something concrete that you can do. If this bill passes, we'll be able to reduce the Federal deficit by $16 billion. You don't have to take my word for it. It's already been scored by the Joint Committee on Taxation. The Joint Committee on Taxation staff has determined that the tax cut that's needed to get every single person in America $35,000 tax-free--their first $35,000--would cost less than the wars and would leave over after that another $16 billion.

Mr. Speaker, this is an idea whose time has come. It's time for the American people to see that there is no longer any need to go beyond the base, exorbitant defense budget that's presented to us by the President, notwithstanding the fact that there are wars in Afghanistan in Iraq. It's simply not necessary. You can see for yourself. Enough is enough. $549 billion is plenty, particularly when we're using a Chinese credit card to pay for it all.

So I ask for your support, Mr. Speaker, and I hope that the Chamber will consider H.R. 5353, the War is Making You Poor Act.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to address my comments not only to you tonight but also to the one-third of America that makes less than $35,000 a year. Some people call you lower middle class; some people call you poor. There are those among you who are retired. There are those among you who are working poor Americans. Some of you make the minimum wage. There are those among you who also are handicapped, people who have no ability to enter the workforce and have to rely upon charity in one form or another.

In any event, there is one-third of America, one-third, that makes less than $35,000 a year, and my comments are addressed to you tonight. You are the ones who Jesse Jackson used to refer to as ``dispossessed,'' ``the despised,'' and in our political system, the damned. And you are sometimes treated that way, but more commonly, you are treated by our political system as disregarded.

There are over 5,000 bills that have been introduced in the House of Representatives since I was sworn in last year. Only a tiny fraction of them offer you any relief. And tonight, I want to point out to you one that does. It's my bill, H.R. 5353, The War's Making You Poor Act. Now, I could talk to you a little bit tonight about various aspects of this bill, but there's one aspect in particular that I want to tell you about; the one that that relates to you directly.

What this bill does is, for you, it eliminates Federal income tax entirely. This bill makes the first $35,000

of every American's income tax-free, and in your case, since you make less than $35,000, it eliminates Federal taxation on you.

And to illustrate that, we have this chart here, and as the chart does indicate, as you can see for yourself, your taxes under H.R. 5353 are a big fat zero. Zilch. Nada. Gornish. Nothing. And I hope that that will become permanent.

This is the biggest tax cut bill that you are going to see this year. It would have been the biggest tax cut bill if we'd introduced it last year. And I could tell you this bill gives us a nudge towards peace. I could tell you that this bill helps us to eliminate wasteful defense spending. I could tell you also that this bill reduces the deficit by $16 billion and puts us back on the track to eliminate our deficit and our debt. I could tell you all of that, but what I am telling you now is this: It eliminates taxes on you.

Now, you may not participate very much in the political system. Certainly, the political system does very little for you, so I can understand that. You don't have the ability to contribute to candidates because you have no money. You don't have the ability to, in many cases, vote because voting takes place on Tuesdays, and you work on Tuesdays.

So you have to ask yourself, what do you have to do to get this bill, H.R. 5353, passed? And I'm going to give you some hints. I'm going to tell you what you might be able to do to get this bill passed to eliminate taxation on you.

Let's see. You can call the main number here at the House of Representatives. It's 202-224-3121, and you, as an American, can ask to speak to your Congressman. I suggest that you do that, and I suggest that you tell your Congressman that you want your Congressman to vote for H.R. 5353. Or, if you have an Internet connection, you can go to the Web site here at the House, www.house.gov. And at that Web site, you can find out how to get in touch with your Congressman and tell your Congressman that you want to support H.R. 5353 and you want him or her to do the same.

And maybe somehow, in some conceivable way, if all of America--or at least the one-third that this bill would eliminate taxation for--got together and demanded justice, demanded that this yoke be tossed off your back and that you be free of Federal taxation, and if this bill passed, then you can say at that point: Free at last; Free at last; Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.

Mr. Speaker, I'd like to address my comments not only to you tonight but also to the one-third of America that makes less than $35,000 a year. Some people call you lower middle class; some people call you poor. There are those among you who are retired. There are those among you who are working poor Americans. Some of you make the minimum wage. There are those among you who also are handicapped, people who have no ability to enter the workforce and have to rely upon charity in one form or another.

In any event, there is one-third of America, one-third, that makes less than $35,000 a year, and my comments are addressed to you tonight. You are the ones who Jesse Jackson used to refer to as ``dispossessed,'' ``the despised,'' and in our political system, the damned. And you are sometimes treated that way, but more commonly, you are treated by our political system as disregarded.

There are over 5,000 bills that have been introduced in the House of Representatives since I was sworn in last year. Only a tiny fraction of them offer you any relief. And tonight, I want to point out to you one that does. It's my bill, H.R. 5353, The War's Making You Poor Act. Now, I could talk to you a little bit tonight about various aspects of this bill, but there's one aspect in particular that I want to tell you about; the one that that relates to you directly.

What this bill does is, for you, it eliminates Federal income tax entirely. This bill makes the first $35,000

of every American's income tax-free, and in your case, since you make less than $35,000, it eliminates Federal taxation on you.

And to illustrate that, we have this chart here, and as the chart does indicate, as you can see for yourself, your taxes under H.R. 5353 are a big fat zero. Zilch. Nada. Gornish. Nothing. And I hope that that will become permanent.

This is the biggest tax cut bill that you are going to see this year. It would have been the biggest tax cut bill if we'd introduced it last year. And I could tell you this bill gives us a nudge towards peace. I could tell you that this bill helps us to eliminate wasteful defense spending. I could tell you also that this bill reduces the deficit by $16 billion and puts us back on the track to eliminate our deficit and our debt. I could tell you all of that, but what I am telling you now is this: It eliminates taxes on you.

Now, you may not participate very much in the political system. Certainly, the political system does very little for you, so I can understand that. You don't have the ability to contribute to candidates because you have no money. You don't have the ability to, in many cases, vote because voting takes place on Tuesdays, and you work on Tuesdays.

So you have to ask yourself, what do you have to do to get this bill, H.R. 5353, passed? And I'm going to give you some hints. I'm going to tell you what you might be able to do to get this bill passed to eliminate taxation on you.

Let's see. You can call the main number here at the House of Representatives. It's 202-224-3121, and you, as an American, can ask to speak to your Congressman. I suggest that you do that, and I suggest that you tell your Congressman that you want your Congressman to vote for H.R. 5353. Or, if you have an Internet connection, you can go to the Web site here at the House, www.house.gov. And at that Web site, you can find out how to get in touch with your Congressman and tell your Congressman that you want to support H.R. 5353 and you want him or her to do the same.

And maybe somehow, in some conceivable way, if all of America--or at least the one-third that this bill would eliminate taxation for--got together and demanded justice, demanded that this yoke be tossed off your back and that you be free of Federal taxation, and if this bill passed, then you can say at that point: Free at last; Free at last; Thank God Almighty, I am free at last.