[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 128 (Wednesday, September 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7332-S7334]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TAX RELIEF

  Mr. LeMIEUX. Mr. President, we are having difficult times in this 
country, difficult times in my home State of Florida--the highest 
unemployment

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anyone can remember, nearing 12 percent. Florida, unfortunately, is No. 
1 in mortgage foreclosures in the first half of the year; No. 1 in 
being behind in its mortgage payments. Our people are struggling. Our 
small businesses are struggling. People are struggling to make ends 
meet. As we face this very difficult time it is natural that the people 
of my State and the people around this country would look to their 
leaders in Washington for help.
  Certainly government cannot solve all problems. But we here in 
government do not want to make the problems any worse. Right now we are 
on the verge of raising taxes on the American people. Tax cuts that 
were imposed in the last 10 years are set to expire if this Congress 
fails to act by the end of the year. What is this going to mean to the 
average Floridian, to the average American, if their taxes go up? It 
depends upon where you find yourself, in terms of how you pay your 
taxes. We know the tax brackets are going to increase. For example, the 
10-percent tax bracket would disappear and those taxpayers would move 
up to the 15-percent bracket, capturing all those with incomes below 
$34,550. It is not just going to affect the people at the upper end of 
the tax scheme but it is going to affect everyone. When people are 
having a difficult time making ends meet, to have to pay more in taxes 
is exactly the wrong thing to do.
  Some have said let's extend the tax cuts for those who are in the 
lower brackets and let's increase those who are at the higher brackets. 
The problem with that is you are again hurting this economy because we 
know that people who pay in the higher brackets are job creators. In 
fact, many of them are small businesses. In our country, small 
businesses often file as if they were individuals. Subchapter S 
corporations file as if they were individuals. By not continuing these 
tax cuts, by raising taxes in the middle of the recession, as many as 
three-quarters of a million small businesses in this country would have 
their taxes increase.
  I was talking to some folks in Pensacola last week. The gentleman I 
was speaking to told me the story of a businessperson who related that 
he is being laid off at his job. The reason he is being laid off is his 
employer told him when his taxes go up he is not going to be able to 
afford to keep that employee on. When you raise taxes on small 
businesses you hurt job creators, exactly the wrong thing we should be 
doing in this very difficult time.
  Instead of tackling issues that could help people get back to work, 
my friends on the other side of the aisle here are debating a campaign 
issue, a political issue about alleged campaign finance reform. Where 
is the initiative to try to put Americans back to work? Where are the 
offerings from my friends on the other side to get Americans back to 
work so we can get out of this very difficult economy? We on our side 
have proposed things such as cutting the payroll tax. If we cut the 
payroll tax 3 percent, every employee in America would get a 3-percent 
pay increase. Every employer would have 3 percent more they could use 
to buy a new piece of equipment or hire a new employee. That is the 
kind of policy this government could do to get people back to work.
  Instead, we passed a $1 trillion health care plan that we found out 
today is going to require 80 percent of small businesses to change 
their health care offerings--probably more expensive. So that promise, 
``If you liked your health care plan, you can keep it'' is going to 
ring hollow. We passed the financial regulation reform bill that is 
causing people in Florida to wonder whether they should move their 
businesses overseas. We passed huge forms of regulation--more 
bureaucracy, more spending. What is it doing to job creation? It is 
freezing it. When I go home to Florida and talk to businesses, they 
say: I don't know what government is going to hand me next. I don't 
know if I hire that 25th or 50th employee if I am now going to be fined 
for not having the right kind of health care. I don't know what is in 
that 2,000-page financial regulation bill. I don't know what is in that 
2,000-page health care bill. What does it mean for my small business?
  We have frozen American business, especially small business, which 
creates two out of every three jobs in this country, with too much 
bureaucracy, too much spending, too much borrowing, and too much debt.
  That goes to another important point about my friends on the other 
side of the aisle trying to raise taxes in the middle of a recession. 
This government does not have a revenue problem. This government has a 
spending problem.
  I came to the Senate a year ago, appointed to serve the people of 
Florida, 18.5 million Floridians. When I came to the Senate on 
September 10 of last year our national debt was just shy of $12 
trillion--$11.7 trillion. The national debt today is $13.5 trillion. We 
have gone more than $1.5 trillion in additional debt in 1 year. It took 
200 years for this country to go $1 trillion in debt. Why on Earth 
should the American people sacrifice more of their hard-earned money to 
give this body more money it is going to waste?
  The American people have no confidence that we have any ability in 
Congress to spend their money wisely. They are right about that. That 
is why they are so angry, and they have a right to be angry--another 
$1.5 trillion in debt. These numbers are so enormous it is hard to get 
your brain around them. A trillion dollars is $1,000 billion. I tell 
folks when I meet with them, if you took $1 bills and laid them out on 
the ground, $1 million would cover two football fields; $1 billion 
would cover Key West, FL--3.4 miles square of $1 bills blanketing the 
ground. A trillion dollars would cover Rhode Island--twice. This is an 
enormous amount of money.
  If you look at the 2009 budget, the 2010 budget, the 2011 budget--
each one of them is about $1.3 to $1.5 billion in debt. That is more 
than $4 trillion debt in 3 years.
  We cannot afford the government we have, let alone the government 
that some in this Chamber want. We need to do a much better job of 
spending the money we are spending now. But this body does not budget. 
We go through some procedure that is called budget but what we do is 
take last year's budget and add to it. No one goes into the agencies of 
government and says, Are these agencies spending their money 
efficiently and effectively? No one checks to see if every dollar spent 
is spent wisely. We are not jealous with the American people's dollars, 
we just spend them.
  Most don't know what we spend them on. Most don't know what those 
dollars are for. That is because we do not balance our budget. We do 
not do what American families do when they sit around the table in a 
difficult economy and say: You know, we are not going to be able to 
take that vacation this year; or, You know, maybe our daughter cannot 
have those piano lesson; or, Maybe we have to put the braces off until 
next year. The hard decisions Americans are making right now are not 
being made in this Chamber. We are spending more and more of your 
money, so why on Earth should we take more of your money and give it to 
government when it is not being spent wisely?
  The next generation's future is in jeopardy. If we continue to spend 
the way we are spending, the debt and deficit will be out of control. 
Right now we spend $200 billion a year on interest alone--paying for 
the obligations we should not have incurred in the past. That will turn 
to $900 billion by 2020 when the projected debt for this country will 
be $25 trillion. My friends, if we are $25 trillion in debt and we are 
spending $900 billion a year in interest payments, this government will 
not function.
  This is not just a problem for our kids; this is a problem for us. 
This problem is going to visit us in the next 2 to 5 years. Washington 
does not have a revenue problem. Washington has a spending problem. 
Let's get about the business of getting Americans back to work. If 
Americans are back to work, there will be more people paying taxes, 
there will be more revenues. Let's get about the business of balancing 
the budget and spending money on things that are efficient and 
effective.
  This body should not budget and spend money every year. We should do 
it every 2 years. My colleague Senator Thune has proposed that. Let's 
spend the other year on oversight making sure your money is spent 
wisely. If we are required to balance the budget, we will actually look 
in these agencies and see if they are spending your money wisely. If we 
do those two things, we can save America. So let's get about that 
business. Instead of

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talking about increasing taxes on small business and individuals, let's 
cut the payroll tax. Let's give employees a pay raise and employers a 
chance to hire new employees and buy equipment. Let's pass the free 
trade agreements with Colombia, with Panama, and South Korea. We know 
those agreements will create more jobs, especially in a State such as 
Florida. Why have they not been sent to the Congress for approval? My 
friends on the other side of the aisle like to talk about job creation, 
but none of the measures that is coming to the floor of this body, or 
very few, have anything to do with getting Americans back to work.
  Today we are missing another opportunity as this body debates alleged 
campaign finance reform instead of caring about what the American 
people care about and that is creating jobs.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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