[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 170 (Tuesday, October 31, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H11566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE BEING MISLED

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Duncan] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, this House voted last week and the week 
before for a huge increase in spending on Medicare.
  I repeat--we voted for and passed legislation providing for a huge 
increase in Medicare.
  In fact, federal spending overall will go up by many billions every 
year under the budgets passed by both the House and the Senate. James 
K. Glasman, the Washington Post columnist, referred to it as the ``no-
cut budget.'' These budgets simply attempt to slow the growth in 
federal spending to about 3 percent a year.
  When you are spending in the range of $1.6 trillion to more than $2 
trillion during the 7 years of this plan, a 3 percent increase is $50 
to $60 billion a year.
  That is billion with a B--and even one billion dollars is a lot of 
money--and these budgets--the Republican budgets--will increase Federal 
spending $50 to $60 billion every year.
  We voted for a huge increase in spending on Medicare--about 7\1/2\ 
percent a year--more than twice the rate of inflation.
  Yet all we hear about are cuts--cuts--cuts.
  We are told that these mega-billion dollar increases are draconian 
cuts.
  Why--well the main reason is that the Federal bureaucrats who got 15 
to 20 percent increases routinely for so many years really feel that 2 
or 3 percent increases are cuts.
  The first Reagan budget--fiscal 1982--was $581 billion. We almost 
triple that figure now--an almost 300 percent increase in just 15 
years.
  I don't think anyone believes that we can sit back and let Federal 
spending keep exploding like it has without having a major economic 
crash a few years down the road.
  Yet the American people are being misled when they are being told 
about all these so called cuts. A very false impression is being 
created.
  In fact, I have been in and around politics since I was a small boy, 
and I do not believe I have ever seen the lies, the distortions, the 
propaganda, that we have now.
  Let me give just a couple of examples. Bruce Babbitt, the Secretary 
of the Interior, has become the most blatantly political Secretary in 
the history of the Department.
  He has been going all over the country attacking Republicans even at 
one time using extremist rhetoric comparing us to the Japanese and 
their sneak attack at Pearl Harbor.
  He came to my area of east Tennessee and said Republicans were 
gutting the national parks, and he has been quoted as saying that there 
is some sort of Republican hit list to close as many as 200 parks.
  What are the facts. Well, last week, National Park Service Director 
Roger Kennedy admitted under oath that he knew of no such list and no 
plan to close any parks.
  Because of Secretary Babbitt, and because of an incomplete job by 
reporters, people in my area think the Great Smoky Mountains have been 
cut.
  Well, the truth is that spending on the Great Smokies has gone up 
from $6.5 to $10.3 million in the last 10 years--and increases of 64 
percent, about twice the rate of inflation over that period.
  Another increase, a little over 2 percent is scheduled for this 
fiscal year. Now I wish we could get more, but the point is that there 
have been no cuts, and in fact, national park spending has gone way up 
over the past 10 or 15 years.
  Another example--and there are hundreds--former Speaker Foley said on 
the PBS national news Friday night that Republicans had cut the earned 
income tax credit. Once again--not so.
  The earned income tax credit cost this country $1.3 billion in 1975; 
$2.5 billion in 1985. Then it began exploding. We are now spending $23 
billion each year on this program, and it goes to over $27 billion 
under the Republican budget--once again--no cut, and in fact a several 
billion dollar increase. Another example--spending on student loans go 
up from $24 to $36 billion--yet some are calling this a cut.
  Most of this outcry about cuts is coming from bureaucrats or fat cat 
Federal contractors who are having to justify their spending or show 
the results for the first time in many years--if ever.
  And it turns out that most of this spending is doing little good for 
the intended beneficiaries and instead is really benefiting only 
bureaucrats or government contractors.
  One example, and once again--there are hundreds--the Job Corps 
Program--again a program that is not--repeat--not being cut.
  Counting all costs, we are now spending $25,000 per year per Job 
Corps student. If we told one of these students that we were spending 
this much on them, they would be shocked.
  Fifty percent drop out in the first 6 months. Seven months is the 
average stay. Only 12 percent end up in jobs for which they were 
trained.
  We could give each of these students a $1,000-a-month allowance, send 
them to an expensive private school and still save money. They would 
probably think they had died and gone to heaven.
  Who really benefits from this billion plus program--once again the 
bureaucrats and few politically connected Federal contractors.
  There are two points here Madam Speaker. One is Federal spending is 
not being cut, and for one specific program--Medicare--we have voted to 
give it huge increases.
  The second point, when you hear about cuts, ask two questions. Who is 
screaming about the cuts--it is almost always some bureaucrat who is 
working for the program or some contractor who is making money off of 
it.
  The second question--ask them specifically how much they got under 
the first Reagan budget 15 years ago and how much will they get during 
this fiscal year. With very few exceptions, you will find that almost 
every Federal department, agency, or program has received huge 
increases since that time.
  Ask questions--don't be deceived.

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