[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3443]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PRESENTING A PROPER BUDGET FOR AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Daniel E. Lungren) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Madam Speaker, just a few 
moments ago the President of the United States made a press statement 
in which he outlined parts of his budget and then challenged the 
Republicans, or those who might oppose his budget, to come up with 
alternatives. Well, let me say in the spirit of St. Patrick, as a great 
descendant of the Irish aisle, I accept that challenge. I accept that 
challenge on behalf of my colleagues on this side of the aisle, but 
also on behalf of my constituents.
  When I was home this weekend, I heard from many of them. In fact, I 
continued to hear from them on the plane ride back from Sacramento here 
to Dulles Airport. They said, please tell the President this: Let's get 
our priorities straight. Fix the financial system first. Get the 
economy working right. Then we will talk about your other ideas.
  So I would say to the President, the better idea that I have from my 
constituents back home is set your sights on righting the financial 
institutions in America.
  Now, what we have heard from the President by and large is well, it 
is somebody else's fault. It was the fault of the previous 
administration. And there may be some truth to that. But let's 
remember, for instance, with AIG it was Treasury Secretary Geithner who 
negotiated that deal with AIG. It was this administration that allowed 
something like $30 billion to go to AIG just recently without any 
strings attached.
  Let's focus on the situation we have with respect to our financial 
institutions first. The President tells us we have to do all these 
other things first. Well, as Warren Buffett said the other day, he 
doesn't think Franklin Delano Roosevelt said on the day after Pearl 
Harbor, ``What a great opportunity for us to expand government. We 
shouldn't let this crisis be wasted.''
  Let's not listen to some around the President who say that a crisis 
like this gives us a great opportunity to do all of the things we have 
wanted to do with respect to government. Let's get down to the basics.
  So let's talk about the budget that the President has presented to 
us. It increases spending by $1 trillion over the next decade. It 
includes an additional $250 billion placeholder for another financial 
bailout. It likely leads to a 12 percent increase in discretionary 
spending. It permanently expands, makes larger, the Federal Government 
by nearly 3 percent of the gross domestic product over pre-recession 
levels. In other words, the answer to big government and big spending 
and big taxing and big borrowing is more big government, big spending, 
big taxes and big borrowing.
  It raises taxes on all Americans by $1.4 trillion over the next 
decade. It raises taxes on 3.2 million taxpayers by an average of 
$300,000 over the next decade.
  The President said look, he is going to raise taxes on the rich, but 
95 percent of Americans are going to get a better deal. Well, guess 
what? His cap-and-trade plan, if adopted, is a cap-and-tax plan. He 
calls it cap-and-trade. It actually is cap-and-tax, because it 
increases the cost of anything basically produced by fossil fuels in 
America. That means your air conditioning, that means your heating, 
that means your transportation. That means it is going to be placed 
into the cost of food being developed, of food being delivered to us. 
It is going to wipe out any suggested tax relief that the average 
family gets, and more. And the average family uses these things as a 
higher percentage of these income than do the rich, therefore they will 
be disproportionately impacted.
  So, Madam Speaker, let's look at what the President has presented. I 
love his melodious tones as he explains to us he is not for more 
spending, he is not for more taxes, he is not for more borrowing, he is 
not for expansion of entitlement programs. But his budget does 
precisely all of those things. It is a net increase in taxes on every 
American. It is an increase in spending. It is an increase in borrowing 
on my children and my grandchildren and everyone's children and 
grandchildren. It is the greatest transfer of wealth from one 
generation to another in the history of the United States.
  Madam Speaker, you don't have to dislike a President of the United 
States personally, you don't have to dislike what he is trying to do, 
to dislike his policies, particularly if they undercut the very 
promises he is making, if they undercut the very things he says we want 
to do. We stand ready to join him. We stand ready to join him in 
meeting the goals that he sets up. But, Madam Speaker, this budget 
taxes too much, spends too much, borrows too much. It is in fact a 
repudiation of the very goals he has established.

                          ____________________