[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S3324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the American people are starting to get 
an idea about the administration's budget. They understand that it 
taxes too much, it spends too much, and it borrows too much, especially 
in the middle of an economic crisis.
  On taxes, the budget includes the largest tax hike in history, 
diverts billions of dollars from charities here at home at a time when 
Americans are looking to those charities even more than they would be 
in normal times, and it raises taxes on small businesses.
  Small businesses account for nearly three-fourths of all new private 
sector jobs here in our country. The budget's tax on small businesses 
would cause many of them to see their taxes go up significantly. This 
tax hits the general contractor down the street, the family restaurant, 
the startup technology firm, and many other businesses people deal with 
or work at all across our country every single day. These businesses 
are the engines of our economy. They are struggling, and they will 
struggle even more once these tax hikes go into effect. Small 
businesses with more than 20 workers, which account for two-thirds--
two-thirds--of the small business workforce, get hit particularly hard. 
The President's budget includes a tax increase on more than half of 
those businesses. These businesses are run by men and women who make 
decisions based on considerations such as how much they are taxed, and 
if they have less money coming in as a result of higher taxes, they cut 
jobs, put off buying new equipment, and they take fewer risks, the 
kinds of risks that have always made our economy so vibrant and so 
innovative. These risks will be squeezed out as a result of these 
higher taxes.
  Hundreds of thousands of Americans are losing their jobs every month. 
Many of these jobs are with small businesses. Higher taxes will only 
force these businesses to shed even more jobs. I understand the 
administration's desire to make good on its promises, but taxes on job 
creators in a recession is not the right approach. With the highest 
unemployment rate in 25 years, most people don't see the sense of 
raising taxes on small businesses, and they are absolutely right.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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