[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 115 (Monday, August 2, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S6558]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RESPONSE TO THE RECESSION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the American people have run out of 
patience with Washington's response to the recession. The first 
response was a so-called stimulus bill that was meant to keep 
unemployment under 8 percent. But after borrowing $1 trillion, 
unemployment is stuck well above 9 percent--some would argue closer to 
10 percent. Now Democrats in Washington want to do it again.
  Later on today, our friends on the other side will vote for a summer 
sequel to the original stimulus. A year and a half after the first 
stimulus, the seemingly unlimited spending continues.
  You will recall the original stimulus was meant to be timely, 
targeted, and temporary. Yet here we are again, a year and a half 
later, and they are already coming back for more. The $100 billion they 
got for teachers the first time wasn't enough.
  Forget about the fact that more than a third of the original $100 
billion hasn't even been spent and that none of the extra money they 
are asking for has to be used to retain teachers. Our friends on the 
other side are now in the business of paying for States to hire more 
workers even if they can't afford it on their own. Why? Why? Because it 
creates a permanent need for future State bailouts, at a time when we 
can least afford it.
  The same with health care spending: The original stimulus included 
about $90 billion in additional Medicaid spending--funds that were said 
to be timely, targeted, and temporary. Yet here we are, a year and a 
half later, and they want billions more.
  Let's be clear: This bill is a brazen attempt to funnel more money to 
public employee unions before an election at a moment of record 
deficits and debt, and to set the stage for a massive tax hike before 
the end of the year. It is time Democrats in Congress stop funneling 
billions of dollars to their favorite constituencies and asking the 
American people to pay for it with higher taxes. It is time they 
actually do something to address the jobs crisis in this country rather 
than using this and every other crisis as an opportunity to advance 
their vision of government without bounds.
  Enough is enough. Democrats can say these bills are a response to the 
job crisis all they want, but the American people have already issued 
their verdict. The American people have seen the bitter results of the 
Democrats' so-called economic agenda. Every bill they pass only adds 
more burden on the people we need to get us out of this economic ditch. 
Whether it is the health care bill or financial regulation, every bill 
they pass seems to have as a prerequisite that it kill more jobs. If a 
bill doesn't kill jobs or make it harder to create them, they are not 
particularly interested.
  When the centerpiece of your jobs agenda is to pass a bill that adds 
another $34 billion to the national debt to get checks to millions of 
chronically unemployed Americans who can't find work in the climate you 
have created, then it is time for a different approach. The approach of 
the past year and a half isn't working. Unemployment has now been above 
9 percent for more than a year. Yet Democrats can't seem to come up 
with anything other than to expand the size of government, transfer 
more Federal dollars to the States.
  Americans are tired of their tax dollars being spent on more 
government, more regulations, more taxes, and more burden. They want 
new solutions that actually enable businesses to recover. Those are the 
kinds of solutions Republicans are offering and that Americans want.

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