[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 42 (Wednesday, April 5, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1536-H1537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         PARTY OF THE 1 PERCENT

  (Mr. McDERMOTT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, it is budget week. Over the past 5 years, 
the number of Americans falling on hard times has soared. A new 
analysis of major Federal Government programs by USA Today confirms the 
gut-wrenching truth.
  Republicans in the White House and the Congress have wielded their 
political power like a club on America's low income and America's 
middle class. The single largest increase came in Medicaid, which added 
15 million Americans on the President's watch from 2000-2005. Medicaid 
is the health care program for the poor. It speaks volumes about how 
the Republican Party has treated low and middle income Americans during 
this administration.
  All but the wealthiest Americans have been left behind by the 
Republican Party and the Republican budget. This is a party of the 1 
percent. The Republican Party deals with what is good for the 1 percent 
at the top, not what is good for everybody else.
  This is not conjecture, it is a grim statistic. Despite this 
administration's watch, the poverty rate has grown dramatically, as has 
the budget deficit. Over the last 5 years, the very rich got very much 
richer. At the same time, the Republicans were giving millionaires new 
$100,000 tax breaks, the poverty rate in the United States was climbing 
to 12.7 percent.
  This is a time to think about what the budget says, about your 
priorities. Remember, they are the party of the 1 percent.
  Republicans love the top one percent. They cater to them. They coddle 
them. They kowtow to them. Republicans are the One Percent Party.
  The other 99 percent of America does not matter to the Party of One 
Percent.
  You need proof? Look at health care. Over the last five years, 
another 15 million Americans have been forced onto Medicaid.
  And the Republican health care proposal is the One Percent illusion.
  Republicans want everyone to have a Health Savings Account, so you 
can save all the money that Middle America does not have, to pay for 
all those health care expenses Middle America cannot possibly afford.
  That is the Republican Solution to America's health care crisis.
  Last year, they wanted to privatize Social Security to destroy the 
safety net under our most distinguished citizens.
  This year, the President and Republican Party want to anesthetize the 
Middle Class, so they don't know Republicans want to amputate their 
financial security with a plan meant to benefit only the rich.
  The One Percent Party created Health Savings Accounts because these 
are new tickets to an all expense-paid tax holiday for the wealthy. 
They get to save tens of thousands of dollars tax free. The Middle 
Class gets to watch.
  It's like standing outside the window looking in, except we are 
standing in the middle of a country that is losing its Middle Class.
  The nation's number one reason for personal bankruptcy is unpaid 
medical expenses, but the Republican Party of One Percent can't be 
bothered with providing every American access to affordable health care 
coverage.
  Republicans have middle class Americans on their knees, and they are 
praying for change this November.

[[Page H1537]]

  The Republican Party of One Percent can't respond to the other 99 
percent of America.
   When hurricanes destroy lives and property in the Gulf Coast, 
Republicans send condolences instead of competent leaders.
  While more vulnerable American children and families fall into 
poverty, Republicans call for more tax holidays for the wealthy.
  When distinguished Americans need help paying for prescription drugs, 
Republicans have drug companies write the legislation, and forbid the 
federal government from negotiating cheaper prices for distinguished 
Americans, every American 65 and older, like my Mom.
  The Republican Party of one percent has done more to undermine 
America's financial security than any administration in history. The 
Republican Party of one percent uses the word security every chance it 
gets.
  But our Ports are not secure, our environment is not secure, our 
financial future is not secure, our most vulnerable children are not 
secure, and America's Middle Class is anything but secure.
  The Republican One Percent Party has spent the last five years 
concerned with only one thing--the top one percent of America.
  Poverty is up.
  Middle Class wages are down in real dollars.
  Health care costs are up.
  The number of Americans with health care coverage is down.
  Every day, America's Middle Class hurts a little more, and every day 
the top one percent earn a lot more.
  That's Republican math. Divide a nation into the very wealthy and 
nobody else.
  That's the Republican Party of One Percent.
  Not all of my Republican colleagues think this way, but they have to 
vote the way they're told by the White House.
  Independence is another one percent illusion.
  And that is precisely why the Republican One Percent Party has to 
receive a one-way ticket out of power this November. They're out of 
touch with 99 percent of America.

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