[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 48 (Thursday, March 19, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3518-S3520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. ENSIGN. Madam President, this Nation is in the midst of a serious 
and defining challenge. Every single day we are buried in the news of 
our economic turmoil. Thousands more are being laid off, foreclosures 
are reaching new highs, property values are dipping to new lows, more 
businesses are shutting their doors, and Americans are struggling to 
pay for life's essentials. Consumer confidence is tragically low, and 
Congress has not acted appropriately to make things better. If this is 
not another Great Depression, it is surely greatly depressing.
  Instead of innovative policies that put more money in the hands of 
consumers and create incentives for small business growth, we are 
passing trillion-dollar and multibillion-dollar spending bills as if we 
are in a race to spend money as quickly and as recklessly as possible. 
It is time to say hold on. It is time to seriously consider what we are 
doing, what the impact will have, and how we are quickly driving this 
Nation off a financial cliff.
  For as long as living standards have been recorded, Americans have 
looked to the next generation as an improvement over the last 
generation. Opportunities, living standards, and conditions have 
improved. Technology and research have advanced. There is hope that our 
children will have more, that it will be even better for them. The 
optimism that has been uniquely American has always driven us to want 
more for the future generations but, unfortunately, that has changed. 
Now we are

[[Page S3519]]

becoming accustomed to taking more from future generations. We are 
digging ourselves into greater and greater debt at an alarming and an 
unbelievable rate. We are spending obscene amounts of money today 
without thinking about who will pay for it. This keeps falling on deaf 
ears, but it is our children and our grandchildren who will be stuck 
with the bill.
  I know some of my colleagues like to ask: Where was this concern over 
the last 8 years as the deficits kept rising higher and higher and 
higher? Rest assured, there has always been a dedicated group of us 
beating this drum of fiscal responsibility. My question is, why aren't 
my Democratic colleagues listening now? They can keep blaming the 
policies of yesterday while this happens, or they can step up now, as 
more and more of my colleagues have, to demand an end to this selfish 
spending addiction.
  Alexis de Tocqueville once observed that America was made great 
because of its good and moral people. How good and moral are we if we 
are so committed to this immediate gratification that we are willing to 
jeopardize the potential of our children and our grandchildren? If we 
continue to spend at the rate we are, our children, and even some of 
us, will be facing tax bills as high as 88 percent. If you think we 
will still be the land of opportunity with that kind of tax rate, you 
are wrong.
  When I speak to high school students today and tell them they may be 
facing tax rates as high as 88 percent when they start working, they 
become speechless. You can see the disbelief and the fear on their 
faces. It takes a lot to really throw off teenagers these days. Forget 
doing better than their parents. They won't have a fighting chance at 
any level of success while bearing this kind of a tax rate burden.
  We cannot afford to let selfishness absorb our purpose of life. Once 
that takes root in our policies, as we are seeing right now, the great 
experiment of this democracy will be closed and ready for the history 
books.
  Instead, we need to refocus. We need to refocus our efforts on 
another very American concept--that we are each in control of our own 
destiny. That means we keep more of our own hard-earned money because 
we know best how to spend it or save it or invest it. We don't just 
throw all of our money to the Government and let them choose one cause 
they believe is better than another cause. That has never been the 
American way.
  Unfortunately, the Obama administration is taking a huge step away 
from this concept with its effort to knock down charitable groups at a 
very crucial time. Non-profits around the country are feeling the pain 
of this economic recession today, and they are serving more and more 
people and are having a harder and harder time raising the funds they 
need to address these increased needs. It is a horrible situation. To 
make it worse, the Obama budget seeks to reduce the tax deduction that 
donors can take for their contributions. Studies show that this type of 
change will discourage almost half of those people from making 
charitable contributions.
  The outrage from the non-profit world in Nevada and across the 
country has been loud and clear. Groups across the spectrum--education, 
health care, food banks, rehab, et cetera--have all been stunned by 
this attack on their missions.
  Charitable groups have come face to face with an administration that 
wants to spread the wealth by spending more money on government 
solutions to education, health care, hunger, and other services.
  Unfortunately, the administration's budget is saying to these groups, 
who work tirelessly in the communities to improve the quality of life 
of the citizens, that Government knows better and can do better. I 
believe, as many others do, they are wrong on this point.
  I hope more of my colleagues and more Americans will join me in 
expressing outrage over the Obama Administration's efforts to decrease 
the charitable deduction for certain taxpayers.
  For all the campaigning the President did on transparency in 
Government spending, he is going to have an awful lot of trouble 
masking the intent of his budget. It is full of tax hikes that will 
stifle future growth and knock the wind out of the middle class.
  Benjamin Franklin once said:

       It is a maxim that those who feel, can best judge.

  Well, the American people are feeling a great deal of pain right now. 
They are in a perfect position to know what will best improve the 
economic situation they are facing, and it is not tax increases.
  While President Obama has promised not to raise taxes on families who 
earn less than $250,000 a year, a proposal called cap and trade will 
certainly result in people paying more for everything that takes energy 
to produce--obviously including their electricity bills. This is an 
indirect tax on all Americans.
  This is a quote from last year by then-candidate Barack Obama:

       Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates 
     would necessarily skyrocket.

  He is admitting electricity rates will skyrocket under his plan of 
cap and trade. Does he really think Americans can afford that right 
now? This is a violation of a campaign promise, just like the one made 
by the first President Bush when he said, ``Read my lips.''
  Energy Secretary Steven Chu explained earlier this month that because 
higher prices are supposed to motivate changes necessary to reduce 
carbon energy use, climate taxes may drive jobs to countries where 
costs are cheaper. I didn't realize our country was in a position right 
now to drive jobs overseas. I know lots of Americans who are looking 
for jobs right here, right now.
  People seem to think they have discovered a pot of gold, but that 
money comes out of the pockets of American families. This is a tax we 
will all pay--rich and poor. The average annual household burden will 
be a little over $3,000--and that is on the low end of the estimate. 
How many families do you know right now who can handle an additional 
$3,000 a year? And because it is a regressive tax, lower income 
families will actually be hit the hardest.
  Compare this to a Making Work Pay tax credit that is supposed to help 
working families by using money from the new climate tax. Individuals, 
under the President's proposal, will get $400 per year, with a phase-
out at earnings of individuals earning $75,000 a year.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. ENSIGN. I ask unanimous consent for 3 more minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. ENSIGN. Families will get $800, with a phase-out of earnings of 
$150,000 a year. I am pretty sure that if we ask most families whether 
they would like to get $800 in return for paying over $3,000, they 
would tell us to just skip the whole exercise. In that respect, the 
American public is smarter than many folks in Washington.
  What will Washington do with the excess money this bill generates? We 
know what it will do: it will spend it, of course.
  Not to worry, President Obama's budget provides targeted tax 
increases as well--targeted at small businesses that are responsible 
for a significant amount of the job creation in this country. Top tax 
rates on small businesses are going up under President Obama's proposed 
budget. The lower rate is 33 percent now, and under his proposal it 
will go to 40 percent. On the highest end, right now, it is 35 percent, 
and that will go to 42 percent.
  History and research have shown that raising taxes on businesses 
depresses investment. It is not surprising that lower taxes on 
businesses increase employment and wages. It seems like a no-brainer. 
But in this new area of Government command and control, rather than 
personal responsibility, President Obama is opting to increase people's 
taxes--especially on those who creates jobs--in order to pay for a 
larger and more intrusive Government.
  This tax, the President has said, only affects 3 to 4 percent of the 
small businesses out there. This chart refers to the fact that about 
half of the small businesses, with 20 or more employees, are eligible 
for the top tax rates I just pointed out.
  This is the important point to make: these small businesses that will 
be hit by this tax create two-thirds of the jobs in America, and we are 
going to raise their taxes. That doesn't seem like a bright thing to 
do, especially

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with the economic position we are in today. My home State of Nevada has 
been led by small businesses. We have led the country for many years on 
the percentage of small businesses creating jobs. We really can't 
afford to have small business taxes increased in my State, nor in any 
other State across the country.
  Going back to the wise words of Benjamin Franklin, the American 
people are feeling the pain of this economy. They elected President 
Obama because he campaigned on a slate of ``change.'' I don't believe 
this is the change the American people signed up for: reckless and 
endless spending, higher taxes on small businesses, increased energy 
costs for all families, fundraising hurdles for charitable groups, and 
a devastating national debt. The list goes on and on.
  Madam President, this is the President's budget, and it is a recipe 
for disaster. We need to come back to the idea of personal 
responsibility and letting families and businesses have more of their 
own money to make the kinds of decisions and investments that will 
drive prosperity in America.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Wisconsin is recognized.
  (The remarks of Mr. Kohl and Mr. Grassley pertaining to the 
introduction of S. 647 are located in today's Record under ``Statements 
on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield the floor.

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