[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 3, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H2888]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         BIG GOVERNMENT IS BACK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Berkley). The Chair recognizes the 
gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Madam Speaker, the era of big government is back. President 
Obama's proposal last week on the budget raises the deficit to $1.75 
trillion. That is 12.3 percent of GDP. Even while rolling back the 2001 
and 2003 tax cuts, the Democrats' budget stills grows the deficit, and 
we've been told over the years that it was those tax cuts that created 
the deficit.
  The national debt will double to $20 trillion in just 8 years. Think 
of that, ladies and gentlemen, $20 trillion. In the last 8 years, the 
budget rose only by $4.9 trillion in comparison. The Obama 
administration will exceed that within their first 3 years. Beginning 
in 2012 and every year thereafter, the government will spend more than 
$1 billion a day in net interest. Just think what we could do with that 
kind of money.
  I've just been visited by representatives of School Food Service in 
the Fifth District of North Carolina. They tell me, unless the Federal 
Government increases its commitment to School Food Service, children in 
our country are going to go hungry. Think what we could do with $1 
billion a day.
  By 2019, the government will spend $1.7 billion per day on interest. 
Total spending is going to equal $3.9 trillion in 2009. That's 27 
percent of GDP, a record level and the highest level as a share of GDP 
since World War II. This spending is going to expand net entitlement 
spending by $1 trillion over 10 years, and it includes a $634 billion 
down payment on socialized medicine.
  Medicaid spending will double in less than a decade, growing from 
$201 billion in 2008 to $403 billion by 2017, and there are no 
provisions for rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in this program. It's 
going to increase domestic--non-defense, non-veterans, non-homeland 
security--discretionary spending by at least 10 percent next year on 
top of the 8.7 percent increase this year.
  Ladies and gentlemen, the American people can not stand this debt and 
can not stand this kind of spending.
  The proposed budget also raises taxes by $1.4 trillion during a 
recession. This includes tax increases on American business, small 
businesses and individuals. Furthermore, all Americans who use energy 
will be penalized with a new carbon tax. This energy tax negates the 
so-called ``tax cut'' for 95 percent of Americans, because 100 percent 
of Americans who use any form of energy are going to pay this tax.
  It reinstates the death tax. This onerous tax punishes families for 
building up savings to pass on to their heirs, and it imposes an 
especially heavy burden on small businesses and family farms. It will 
penalize Americans for contributing to charities by increasing taxes by 
$179.8 billion over 10 years.
  The budget repeals seven different tax provisions for oil and gas 
producers, including a manufacturing deduction and the expensing of 
drilling costs, which would effectively raise taxes on the industry by 
$60 billion.
  The new policy of Cap and Tax, or Cap and Trade, would impose a $79 
billion annual cost to the economy, or $646 billion over 10 years. This 
is going to raise energy prices by an average of $516 per year for each 
household.
  We heard the President talk about responsibility and accountability. 
By my account, he mentioned ``responsibility'' seven times last week in 
his speech to Congress, and he mentioned ``accountability'' six times. 
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time that Congress lives up to its 
responsibility and becomes accountable for its spending and stops 
passing these spending costs along to future generations.

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