[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 205 (Wednesday, December 20, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H15277]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             JUST THE TRUTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. White). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Scarborough] is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. SCARBOROUGH. Mr. Speaker, people are talking about how 
disappointed they are and how sad they are. Let me say what saddens me, 
that people can get on this floor with a straight face, with a straight 
face, mind you, and still spread the untruth that we are cutting 
Medicare. I hear that we are slashing Medicare. It is a radical agenda.
  I had a member of my district call and say, please, will somebody 
tell me who is telling the truth up in Washington. The President keeps 
saying that he is shutting down the Government, and he is not going to 
pass the first balanced budget in a generation because you are 
radically cutting Medicare.
  I do not want to call the President of the United States a liar, and 
I will not. I will let the Washington Post, the New Republic, and 
members of the President's own staff, former staff do this. This is the 
front cover of the New Republic. It says why the Democrats' demagoguery 
is even worse than you thought. The New Republic is one of the most 
liberal publications in America since 1914. It is flat out saying the 
President is not telling the truth.
  The Washington Post writes an editorial. What saddens me, what deeply 
saddens me is every person that comes up and says that we are slashing 
Medicare is, A, either knowing that that is not true or, B, is ignorant 
of the facts. Ignorant of the facts that the Washington Post points 
out, when they say that the Democrats led by the President have chosen 
instead to present themselves as Medicare's great protectors, they have 
shamelessly used the issue, demagogued on it because they think that is 
where the votes are and the way to derail the Republicans.
  The President was still doing it this week. A Republican proposal to 
increase Medicare premiums was the reason he alleged to veto and shut 
down the Government. But never mind the fact that the President himself 
would countenance the same increase. The Washington Post--this is not 
from Newt Gingrich. Wake up, America. Wake up. This is from the 
Washington Post, the New Republic: We are being called radical.
  Do you know what is so radical about our plan, that on Medicare, we 
are doing the same exact thing that President Clinton and Hillary 
Clinton said we needed to do 2 years ago. Hillary Clinton, shake your 
head, Hillary Clinton testified on Capitol Hill that we needed to slow 
the growth in Medicare to twice the rate of inflation. She suggested 
6\1/2\ percent. The Republican plan increases it to 7 percent. 
Furthermore, spending on Medicare explodes to 65 percent over the next 
7 years.
  The press knows it. The press has stated as much. The markets have 
stated as much. Everybody knows the truth. Do not believe me, do not 
believe Newt Gingrich, do not believe the Democrats. Listen to what 
neutral observers are saying. They are trying to scare senior citizens 
because they are devoid of any plan to balance the budget in 7 years.
  The New Republic has said it. The Washington Post has said it. The 
Washington Times has said it. The Wall Street Journal has said it. 
Editorial boards around America have said it. They said it this past 
week when they called Leon Panetta on the carpet on This Week with 
David Brinkley.
  Do my colleagues know what Leon Panetta's final remark was? Well, it 
is just to give the rich tax cuts. Let me tell my colleagues, check it 
out. Eighty-nine percent of these tax cuts for the so-called rich, 89 
percent as scored by CBO, goes to families earning under $75,000. Check 
it out. Check out the truth.

  Is $75,000 or less for a family the way that Bill Clinton defines 
rich these days? If so, I think he needs to lead a Third World country 
instead of America, because there are a lot of people with three or 
four children making $75,000 or less that have trouble getting by. If 
that is a tax cut for the rich, label me guilty. I am sick and tired of 
what is going on. I just want to hear the truth. Give me some truth.

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