H212 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE February 7, 2001 risky scheme, a close analysis of the Today we refer to cooperation as bi- The question, though, remains, is historical record, Mr. Speaker, will partisanship. Some argue that biparti- there really anything new being of- prove otherwise. Both Senator BOB sanship is absolutely necessary for the fered? The demand for bipartisanship is GRAHAM of Florida and Alan Greenspan American democracy to survive. The nothing more than a continuation of agree that the Bush tax cut is average media never mentions a concern for the the third-way movement of the last by historical standards. survival of the Republic, but there are several decades. The effort always is to Consider, for example, this chart, those who argue that left-wing inter- soften the image of the authoritarians prepared by the nonpartisan National ventionism should give no ground to who see a need to run the economy and Taxpayers Union. The Bush tax cut and right-wing interventionism, that too regulate people’s lives, while pre- the tax cut proposal we support in the much is at stake. tending not to give up any of the ad- Economic Recovery and Growth Act of The media are demanding the Bush vantages of the free market or the sup- 2001 are considerably smaller than ei- administration and the Republican posed benefits that come from compas- ther the Kennedy tax cut of the 1960s or Congress immediately yield to those sionate welfare or a socialist govern- significantly smaller than the Reagan insisting on higher taxes and more ment. tax cut of 1981 as a percentage of gross Federal Government intervention for b 1145 national product. So too, Mr. Speaker, the sake of national unity because our the Bush tax cut and the Economic Re- government is neatly split between two It is nothing more than political, covery and Growth Act proposal rep- concise philosophic views. But if one have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too, decep- resent a smaller portion of Federal rev- looks closely, one is more likely to find tion. enues in constant 2000 dollars than ei- only a variation of a single system of Many insecure and wanting citizens ther of the earlier tax reduction pro- authoritarianism, in contrast to the cling to the notion that they can be posals. rarely mentioned constitutional non- taken care of through government be- In fact, even Democrat Speaker Tip authoritarian approach to government. nevolence without sacrificing the free O’Neill, not exactly legendary for his The big debate between the two fac- market and personal liberty. Those support of big tax cuts, Democrat tions in Washington boils down to who anxiously await next month’s gov- Speaker Tip O’Neill’s alternative tax nothing more than a contest over ernment check prefer not to deal with initiative in 1981 was larger than the power and political cronyism, rather the question of how goods and services plan that many of us conservatives in than any deep philosophic differences. are produced and under what political the Congress propose today. The Eco- The feared gridlock anticipated for circumstances they are most effi- nomic Recovery and Growth Act pro- the 107th Congress will differ little ciently provided. Sadly, whether per- posal is a well-reasoned and sensible al- from the other legislative battles in re- sonal freedom is sacrificed in the proc- ternative to plans that call for keeping cent Congresses. Yes, there will be ess is a serious concern for only a small more money in Washington, D.C. heated arguments regarding the size of number of Americans. As the preceding comparisons dem- budgets, local versus Federal control, The third way, a bipartisan com- onstrate, Mr. Speaker, the Bush and private versus government solutions; promise that sounds less our own Bush-plus tax cut are anything but a serious debate over the precise confrontational and circumvents the but dangerous or irresponsible. They role for government is unlikely to issue of individual liberty, free mar- are, instead, measured actions, taken occur. kets and production is an alluring, but to alleviate two serious challenges fac- I do not expect any serious challenge dangerous, alternative. The harsh re- ing the American people today. to the 20th century consensus of both ality is that it is difficult to sell the First, by reducing rates and thus in- major parties that the Federal Govern- principles of liberty to those who are creasing the incentive for work and in- ment has a significant responsibility to dependent on government programs, vestment, both plans can help reinvigo- deal with education, health care, re- and this includes both the poor bene- rate an economy that is finally begin- tirement programs, or managing the ficiaries as well as the self-serving, ning to collapse under the weight of 8 distribution of the welfare-state bene- wealthy elites who know how to ben- years of ever-increasing tax and regu- fits. Both parties are in general agree- efit from government policies. The au- latory burdens. Secondly, the proposals ment on monetary management, envi- thoritarian demagogues are always will finally offer relief to American ronmental protection, safety and risk, anxious to play on the needs of people families who are currently taxed at a both natural and man-made. Both par- made dependent by a defective political rate not seen since the world was at ticipate in telling others around the system of government intervention, war. world how they must adopt a demo- while perpetuating their own power. Hard-working Americans deserve to cratic process similar to ours as we po- Anything that can help the people to keep more of their wages, Mr. Speaker, lice our worldwide financial interests. avoid facing the reality of the short- so that they may provide for their fam- We can expect most of the media-di- comings of the welfare-warfare state is ilies, not for bigger government bu- rected propaganda to be designed to welcomed. Thus, our system is destined reaucracies. speed up and broaden the role of the to perpetuate itself until the immu- f Federal Government in our lives and in table laws of economics bring it to a the economy. Unfortunately, the token halt at the expense of liberty and pros- CHALLENGE TO AMERICA: A CUR- opposition will not present a principled perity. RENT ASSESSMENT OF OUR RE- challenge to big government, only an The third-way compromise or bipar- PUBLIC argument that we must move more tisan cooperation can never reconcile The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. slowly and make an effort to allow the differences between those who REHBERG). Under the Speaker’s an- greater local decision-making. produce and those who live off others. nounced policy of January 3, 2001, the Without presenting a specific philo- It will only make it worse. Theft is gentleman from Texas (Mr. PAUL) is sophic alternative to authoritarian theft, and forced redistribution of recognized for 60 minutes. intervention from the left, the opposi- wealth is just that. The third way, Mr. PAUL. Mr. Speaker, I have asked tion concedes that the principle of gov- though, can deceive and perpetuate an for this time to spend a little bit of ernment involvement per se is proper, unworkable system when both major time talking about the assessment of practical, and constitutional. factions endorse the principle. our American Republic. The cliche ‘‘the third way’’ has been In the last session of the Congress, Mr. Speaker, the beginning of the used to define the so-called com- the majority party, with bipartisan 21st century lends itself to a reassess- promise between the conventional wis- agreement, increased the Labor, Health ment of our history and gives us an op- dom of the conservative and liberal and Human Services and Education ap- portunity to redirect our country’s fu- firebrands. This nice-sounding com- propriation by 26 percent over the pre- ture course, if deemed prudent. The promise refers not only to the noisy vious year, nine times the rate of infla- main question before the new Congress rhetoric we hear in the United States tion. The Education Department alone and the administration is, are we to Congress, but also in Britain, Ger- received $44 billion, nearly double Clin- have gridlock, or cooperation? many, and other nations as well. ton’s first educational budget of 1993. February 7, 2001 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H213 The Labor, HHS and Education appro- tion. Short of that, the only other rea- good of the country, but working to- priation was $34 billion more than the sonable solution must come from Mem- gether to promote a giant interven- Republican budget had authorized. Al- bers’ refusal to be influenced by the tionist state dangerous to us all is far ready, the spirit of bipartisanship has pressure the special interest money can different from working together to pre- prompted a new administration to re- exert. This requires moral restraint by serve constitutionally protected lib- quest another $10 billion along with our leaders. Since this has not hap- erties. more mandates on public schools. This pened, special interest favoritism has Many argue that the compromise of is a far cry from the clear constitu- continued to grow. bipartisanship is needed to get even a tional mandate that neither the Con- The bipartisanship of the last 50 little of what the limited government gress nor the Federal courts have any years has allowed our government to advocates want, but this is a fallacious authority to be involved in public edu- gain control over half of the income of argument. More freedom can never be cation. The argument that this bipar- most Americans.