For Release: Tuesday, May 6, 1997

WASHINGTON, DC - May 7 is a special day for Texans, says US Representative Ron Paul (R-Surfside, Texas), because that is the day they have finally paid off their taxes. The Tax Foundation, a non-partisan organization each year calculates the average "tax freedom day" nationally and for each state. Nationwide, the average American will work through May 9 to pay their taxes.

"The average Texan worked all day, every day from January 1 through May 7, just to pay their federal, state and local taxes," said Paul. "This means not a penny was saved, no house payments or rent made, no food bought, no clothes purchased, no investments made and no improvements performed. Every effort performed by the average Texan these months has gone to pay their tax bill."

But this does not mean Texans are now working for themselves and their families beginning today.

"Now Texans are working to pay an even more insidious tax - the hidden cost of government regulation and tampering. For the next two months, through early July, Texans will be working to pay for those costs."

Paul said it is poetic that it is not until approximately the July 4^th holiday that Texans finally start to keep all the money they earn so that they can provide for their families and their future.

"It reflects the sad shape of our nation that Texans literally work half of the year to pay for the government. Our Founding Fathers never envisioned that government would be so out-of-control, and doing so many unconstitutional things, that the citizens of our great nation would work six months a year to shoulder government costs," Paul said. "Even worse, Texans are not getting a very good deal. We pay outrageous sums of money for government, and then that same government always seems to be making matters worse for all of us, and especially for the poor. It is time to reign in government, to get the spending under control by following the Constitution, and cutting taxes across-the-board."

Paul said he is committed to cutting the unconstitutional programs from the federal budget, including such "boondoggle" agencies as the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Education, and the Department of Labor.

"Unless we begin to follow the Constitution, right now, the cost of government will only increase. Unless we act now, our children will be working into August and September to pay for government. It takes more than budget tinkering and clever soundbites to fix the system, it takes a solid commitment to following the Constitution and not selling out to the special interests."