[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3514-S3515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Madam President, I thank the distinguished chairman 
of the Environment and Public Works Committee for her passionate 
defense of our natural resources. She is a constant ally of the very 
best we cull forth from each other as Senators where our most precious 
environmental concerns are engaged. It is an honor to follow her.
  Before I yield the floor to the distinguished Senator from New 
Hampshire, who has already made an impact here, I wanted to say a few 
words about the President's new budget.
  Across the country, families sit at their kitchen tables and talk and 
make tough choices about their own family budget, about what they can 
afford to spend, about what they have to save. What will they do when 
it is time for the kids to go to college? What will they do if the car 
breaks down? What will they do if an elderly parent becomes ill? How 
will they use their finances wisely to plan for the future? This year, 
those choices are more difficult than ever. We have families in Rhode 
Island, as I am sure we have

[[Page S3515]]

across the country, trying to save their homes, to save their jobs, to 
save their health care. The bills pile up, and all too often there is 
not enough to pay them. Well, our country is in a deep hole too. But I 
would like to remind my colleagues that it was not always this way.
  In January 2001, when George Bush became President, the Congressional 
Budget Office, which is the non-partisan accounting arm of Congress 
that does our budget outlook on a regular basis, projected that we 
would see surpluses straight through the decade. These budget 
surpluses, the product of President Clinton's responsible governing, 
were projected to be enough to completely wipe out our national debt by 
2009, this very year. Imagine, a debt-free America this year. Well, 
President Bush fixed that.
  Usually when American families have a surplus, they use it 
responsibly, they pay down credit card debt or make an extra mortgage 
payment. They put it away in retirement savings. They set it aside for 
college for the kids. Or they spend it on something they need, such as 
a downpayment on a car or a house. Well, President Bush chose tax cuts 
for the wealthiest Americans, a misguided war he would not pay for--an 
irresponsible economic policy, leaving a mountain of debt to the next 
administration. He, of course, had the enthusiastic support of a 
Republican Congress which was with him every step of the way into this 
debt.
  Today, the difference between the expected surpluses left by 
President Clinton and the actual deficit run up by President Bush is a 
staggering $8.9 trillion--$8.9 trillion on America from the Bush 
administration and its Republican allies in Congress.
  So that is what President Obama inherited--a legacy of reckless 
borrowing, bad decisions, compounded by skyrocketing unemployment and 
now a deepening recession that only adds to our country's fiscal woes.
  President Obama is trying to help us dig our way out of this mess by 
focusing his budget on the policies and programs that will repair our 
economy and create the foundation for long-term economic growth and 
success. He proposed, and we passed, an economic recovery plan to 
create jobs and support struggling families and make badly needed 
investments in our infrastructure during this recession. It wasn't 
perfect. It probably will not be enough. But it was a good start.
  Now, the same Republican Party that thought tax cuts for the rich and 
an unnecessary war in Iraq were good uses of President Clinton's budget 
surpluses, the same Republican Party that ran up an $8.9 trillion debt 
on the country now has its leaders calling President Obama's plans 
``the fleecing of America's children.'' It is hard to imagine that this 
irony eludes them.
  President Obama wants to cut taxes for working families, invest in 
renewable energy, help more young people get a college education, and 
reform our broken health care system--key priorities for the future of 
America. But some Republicans who stood by while our country became 
more and more dependent on foreign oil, while the cost of a college 
education went through the roof, and while a crisis brewed in our 
health care system are calling these investments in our future ``a 
remarkable spending binge.'' Once again, the ``department of irony'' 
appears to be open late on the other side of the aisle.
  Families in America know we will not get out of this mess with the 
same failed policies that got us into it--that it is time for new 
priorities. That is what President Obama's budget offers.
  Perhaps our greatest challenge, certainly one of our greatest 
challenges and opportunities, is presented by our broken and 
dysfunctional health care system. Unless we take serious remedial 
action and soon, right away, this recession we are living through now 
will seem like an economic speed bump compared to what will happen when 
that $35 trillion in unfunded Medicare liabilities, against which we 
have set not one nickel, comes bearing down on us.
  We had a lot of fighting in this body about that Recovery and 
Reinvestment Act. The Recovery and Reinvestment Act was nearly $800 
billion. Compare that to the Bush debt I talked about that they ran up 
of $8.9 trillion. Where was the complaining then? Compare that to the 
$35 trillion in unfunded liabilities we face for Medicare. Where are 
the serious ideas about how we address this problem?
  When you put these problems to scale, you will see that wave of cost, 
that tsunami of health care cost coming at us is something we have to 
address. We are facing truly the financial ruin of our health care 
system and, if nothing is done, the financial ruin of our country. 
Every one of us should share the goal of making sure health insurance 
coverage reaches every American. President Obama's budget makes a 
downpayment on that badly needed reform. But it is not enough just to 
give coverage to everybody. It is not enough just to get everybody on 
board, if the boat itself is sinking.
  We have two toolboxes out of which we can fix our health care mess. 
One reduces coverage, cuts benefits, pays providers less, and raises 
taxes. That is the old-fashioned toolbox. It will work, but it will be 
brutal. It will be wrong, and we should do everything we can to prevent 
it. The other toolbox reforms the health care system itself, making it 
more intelligent, sensible, helpful, and efficient; with an information 
technology infrastructure so every American can count on their own 
secure electronic health record, with improvements in the quality of 
health care so we maximize the effectiveness while reducing the cost; 
and with reform of having paid for health care so the health care we 
want is the health care we are paying for.
  The President sees that all of this is doable--and that we need to 
start now. His economic recovery legislation put nearly $20 billion 
into health information infrastructure. But the President knows there 
is much more to be done, that these delivery system reforms in health 
care cannot be flipped on like a light switch. It will require complex 
workforce, regulatory, and infrastructure changes. Then those changes 
will have to be implemented and administered. It will take some years, 
and we need to start now. The Obama budget starts us on that course to 
fix our broken health care system.
  I find it unfortunate that our Republican colleagues don't seem to 
appreciate the seriousness of these problems and have become a chorus 
of naysayers with no solutions. It is time to pass a budget that lives 
up to the expectations of the American people. I hope we will.
  I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New Hampshire.

                          ____________________