[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 19 (Wednesday, February 6, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S684-S685]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ECONOMIC STIMULUS

  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, I rise to talk about the economic stimulus

[[Page S685]]

package we are discussing in the Senate. I certainly appreciate the 
concern the President and all of us have in the House and Senate about 
our economy and wanting to do everything we can to make sure we avoid 
an economic slowdown or recession that creates so much hardship through 
the loss of jobs and, in many cases, a loss of homes. It is something 
we definitely need to address. It is equally important, as we look at 
our economic situation, to make sure we allow economic growth and 
prosperity to work for more people. It is not just about our economic 
situation as a whole growing but making sure everyone can share in that 
prosperity.
  It is important, as we look at the best way to stimulate the economy 
and keep it going, to remember that good jobs and a good economy depend 
on successful companies making good profits. In order for that to 
happen, we have to create a good business environment. Our goal as a 
Congress should be to make sure America is the best place in the world 
to do business. Unless we do that, we will continue to lose ground to 
countries all over the world. It is going to be increasingly difficult 
to sustain long-term economic growth. The world is becoming 
increasingly competitive. We hear it every day. We hear from Asia and 
India which are actually courting businesses with incentives to 
encourage companies to locate in their countries, creating a good 
business environment with less regulation and less taxes so that people 
will bring their manufacturing plants, their people, and their capital 
to their countries. It is working. Even stodgy old Europe that we 
imagine to be a high-tax and highly regulated network of countries is 
changing to be more competitive in the world economy. They have lowered 
their corporate tax rate to an average of about 25 percent. Some of 
their countries such as Ireland have gone down close to 10 percent and 
have seen remarkable economic growth as they have lowered their tax 
rate.
  Why is this country not responding in the same way? It hasn't been 
too long since I have been in the private sector working with 
businesses. I continue to hear the same sentiment. If we are going to 
do business in America today, before we get to the equipment and the 
people actually making the products or providing services, a medium-
sized American company today is likely to have a large tax department. 
It could spend millions on dealing with our Tax Code. We have the most 
complex tax system in the world and probably the highest corporate tax 
rate in the world. Some will say it is second. Some say it is first. 
But we are definitely near the top at around 35 percent. So they start 
with a large tax department.
  Then most of our companies also have large legal departments because 
we are the most litigious society in the world. The most liability for 
any country is to do business in America. It is not unusual to talk to 
successful, well-known American companies that are dealing with 
hundreds, if not thousands, of lawsuits at the same time. So they keep 
a full-time fleet of lawyers and law firms on retainer dealing with the 
lawsuits and the legal situations.
  These same companies also have large human resource and compliance 
departments to deal with all of our regulations--some of them good, 
many unnecessary. A lot of regulations related to capital and 
reporting, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, are costing companies millions of 
dollars unnecessarily because Congress is unwilling to fix those things 
we know are wrong. So there is a large tax department, a large legal 
department, a large human resource compliance and regulatory 
department, before we get to manufacturing and actually making things. 
We are making it very difficult for our companies to compete.
  Add to that the cost of energy which is one of the highest in the 
world. That goes back to bad policy as well. For years we have known we 
have large oil and natural gas reserves. We have known we could develop 
more nuclear generation of electricity. Yet we have not allowed nuclear 
plants to be developed. We have large reserves of oil in Alaska, which 
we have consistently voted down in the Congress, and natural gas we 
don't go after. Therefore, we are not only spending hundreds more for 
every family for gasoline for cars or oil to heat homes or more for 
electricity, we are sending hundreds of billions of dollars a year out 
of this country that could support our economy yet is supporting the 
Middle East and other economies around the world. Yet we will not 
change the policy. We will not develop our own energy resources. 
Instead, we are making it harder to produce automobiles in this 
country, putting the burden on them consistently.
  Now, instead of trying to fix some of the systemic policy problems, 
we are talking about an economic stimulus plan which I have yet to 
hear, at least on the Republican side in our private meetings, one 
Republican defend as good policy. Maybe some will come out here and do 
so. But everyone on both sides is talking about good politics. We are 
doing nothing for long-term growth. We are doing nothing to create a 
simpler, more predictable Tax Code or reducing our regulation or 
litigation. What we are going to do in time for the election is to get 
a check in the hands of as many people as we can, and we are borrowing 
it from the future. The debt is growing. We are going to borrow the 
money to send checks home to Americans.
  In 10 years on the present course, bonds for the American Government 
will be rated as junk bonds in the world because we continue to look at 
the next election rather than the future of the country.
  It is obvious what we could do to develop a long-term, sustained 
economic growth pattern. If we made the current tax rates permanent, 
the ones we know have stimulated our economy, that would allow 
companies to plan past 3 years to build new plants, to buy new capital 
equipment, to hire new people. Right now American companies trying to 
do business in this country do not know what their tax rates are going 
to be after 2010. In fact, if we do nothing in Congress, they know they 
will experience the highest tax increase in history. Yet we are not 
even willing to talk about it. All of us know we need to lower our 
corporate tax rate to at least be comparable to Europe at 25 percent. 
Yet we are not doing it. So more of our capital, more of our jobs, more 
businesses will continue to move offshore. Sending people a few hundred 
dollars to pay down their credit cards is not going to help grow our 
economy.
  There are other things we know we can do. We know we can bring 
capital from overseas back home for investment and growth if we lower 
the corporate tax rate as we did a few years ago, what we call 
repatriating those dollars. Even temporarily lowering that rate would 
bring capital home and encourage growth.

  The one part of the stimulus package that does make sense is to allow 
companies to expense or to speed up depreciation of capital they buy so 
it will encourage them to grow and make decisions now because the 
people who make that equipment have jobs, and those who operate that 
equipment have jobs. So it would provide some stimulus. But it is most 
important that we have a predictable, permanent system where people can 
do business and be competitive around the world. It is unfortunate in 
all this debate that we are not even willing to talk about it.
  I appreciate the time to express my concerns. I am thankful everyone 
is concerned about the economy and those who have lost their jobs and 
may lose them in the future. But what we are doing as a Congress is 
talking about doing something that we are not really doing: we are not 
stimulating the economy. This is not an economic stimulus package. It 
is a political stimulus package that is designed to help folks in 
November.
  I know every American needs a check and probably none will turn it 
down. But, unfortunately, we are making false promises that will not 
carry into long-term economic growth.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brown). The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that my remarks be 
considered as in morning business but fall in line with regard to the 
bill before us.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.




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