[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 155 (Wednesday, December 1, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8311-S8312]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. BEGICH. Mr. President, I wasn't planning to actually come to the 
floor this morning, but as we prepare for the day, sometimes we watch 
those who make comments and reflect on what was talked about yesterday 
and what we discussed and what we see on the floor. I have this new 
attitude that as I see people put information on the floor that has to 
have a balance to it, I am going to come out and give that balance when 
I can. The biggest one is on the economy.
  I sat here yesterday and heard some folks on the other side 
complaining that it took us a week to deal with the food safety law, 
and they wondered why. Well, it is because the other side continues to 
require filibusters for 30 hours. I know the Presiding Officer has been 
working aggressively on this to try to figure out a way to get things 
on this floor more quickly so we can have a debate. But what shocked me 
is, they complained that it took a week when, in fact, their delay 
tactics caused the week delay. So they wonder why. They create the 
problem and then they complain about the problem.
  The bigger issue is on the economy. The Presiding Officer and I came 
here 2 years ago. We came and were sworn in, in this Chamber, in 
January of 2009. This economy was collapsing. It was a disaster. It did 
not matter if you were from Alaska or New Mexico; wherever you went, 
you heard the stories about the problems with the economy and where we 
were headed. It was incumbent upon us to do as many things as possible 
to assist the economy to grow, to figure out the pathway. Not all ideas 
we laid on the table that passed were perfect, but they were multiple 
and multifaceted, to figure out what to do. The converse is, the other 
side just kept saying no, no, no. They weren't interested in doing 
anything to move this economy forward. We were in a crisis moment.
  When we think about issues and we look back--and always at the time 
we are making decisions and we are hoping for the best and we are 
trying everything possible--it is helpful to remind ourselves where we 
were. It didn't matter, again, as I said, if you were from Alaska or 
New Mexico, the economic condition of this country and this world was 
at risk. So we made some moves that were controversial, and today many 
of us don't like to talk about them because the pollsters will tell us: 
That is bad news; don't talk about it. The public hates it. Maybe it is 
the TARP or the bailout or the stimulus. Figure out the list.
  Every day I read Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, CNBC. I look 
at all the business publications online and in print. What I like to 
see is not what politicians are saying about how the economy is going 
but what other people are saying--the people who actually work every 
single day to try to build this economy. I can speak to this. Meaning 
no disrespect--I know the Presiding Officer is an attorney. I mean no 
disrespect to the attorneys who are here. We have lots of them in the 
Senate.
  I am from the private sector. My first business license was at the 
age of 14. My wife owns four retail stores. We are businesspeople. We 
understand what it takes to go to the bank and try to scratch a loan 
from them to build a business, expand a business. We understand when a 
banker says no, so we have to go raise capital from other folks to try 
to make our dreams come true.
  There are a lot of people who come to this floor on the other side 
who talk a lot about business who have never been in it, who have never 
had to make a payroll. They have worked their way through another means 
of income. So it is frustrating to me when I hear people who have never 
been in it come out on this floor and talk about the business world.
  Let me give some data points. I will probably do this more often than 
I should over the next several months because the American people have 
heard the story from the other side over and over.
  I was no big fan of the auto bailout--a lot of us weren't--but 10 
days ago, a little blip in the news: GM had the largest initial public 
offering in stock market history. The first day they estimated that 
about $17 billion would be subscribed to it. Then it was $20 billion. 
The latest news is $23 billion. The American people put their money on 
the table and bet on GM: $23 billion. Unbelievable. Actually, what 
truly shocked me was when I grabbed--and I get it every day, I read it, 
and I think there are incredible news stories. It is not a liberal 
newspaper--the Wall Street Journal. It has very conservative views on a 
lot of things. But their headline: ``GM Stock Sale in High Gear. 
Government-backed carmakers on pace to score one of the largest U.S. 
IPOs ever.''
  The government owned 61 percent then. With this IPO, it is now down 
to about 26 percent. It clearly shows, even though it was controversial 
and still is controversial, even though no one wants to talk about it, 
that investment to save an American company in order for it to sustain 
American jobs in this country is succeeding. It is not because I am 
saying it. It is not because the Presiding Officer might say it or the 
other side now wants to take some credit, which is amazing--I love some 
of the quotes I read.
  When this first was kicked around, they called it socialism, the 
world was collapsing, the sky was falling. Now you read the quotes from 
some of the folks on the other side and they say: Well, with our help, 
we made it a better deal. They didn't vote for anything to make it a 
better deal. That is just a fact. The fact is, we took the risk to make 
an American company survive. That is what we did on this side of the 
aisle. Today, that company is more profitable than ever before.
  When you look at the data, the private sector is successful and the 
American people are investing in that company. That is the true test of 
the work we did--even though it was controversial--what the outcome 
was.
  As I sit here in the last couple of days, I am going to read a couple 
more data points. Again, it is not me saying this or writing these 
issues; it is the private sector that is identifying where we are going 
in this economy. Later this week, we will get a report--on Friday. I 
heard today in some of the comments that we should let the private 
sector do as much as it can. I 100 percent agree. I come from the 
private sector. Many on the other side talk about it, but they have 
never been there. The private sector added 93,000 jobs last month.
  When you look at another one, the number I like to look at is 
consumer confidence. When consumers are more confident about the 
economy, they will spend more money, drive our economy, and invest in 
their country.
  Interestingly, ``Consumer, Manufacturing Reports Beat Forecasts.'' 
That came out yesterday. Again, it is another indicator that the 
economy is moving in the right direction. It is still rough and 
fragile, and the policies are controversial, yes, but we took the risk 
and bet on the American people. That is what the Democrats did. We said 
that we believe in America, our ingenuity, innovation, and the capacity 
to pull us out of this recession. We are going to help them with some 
tools. They are making it happen.
  I can tell you this from my wife being in the retail business. Black 
Friday--the Friday after Thanksgiving--is what retailers focus on when 
moving into the fourth quarter. Is it going to be successful? If you 
look at all the reports compared to a year ago, retailers have strong 
momentum coming out of Black Friday. Everyone did very well. That is 
another good indication.
  As a matter of fact, one encouraging sign--and this is out of another 
business document. CNBC did this. It comes from the NPD Group, figuring 
out where consumers are after Black Friday and other shopping days. 
Shoppers are starting to buy items for themselves. In addition to gifts 
for others, about 35 percent of shoppers told NPD on Black Friday that 
they also made purchases for themselves. If shoppers are starting to 
splurge on themselves, that is an important development. It can push 
the holiday season past the forecasts.
  I am not making this up. This is what is happening because, again, 
this side of the aisle said: We are going to bet on the American 
people. We are going to bet that the work we did in early 2009, trying 
everything possible

[[Page S8312]]

to jump-start this economy, is going to have a payoff down the road 
because we are going to focus on the private sector, helping them get 
the tools they need, just as we did before the August break in passing 
the small business incentive program and tax incentives and loan 
capacity. We only received two votes from the other side for that. So 
be it. We go the road alone. The net result for the last 2 years is 
that--I have been here for 2 years, and the occupant of the chair has 
been on the other side for a decade or so. But we came here to get work 
done. It may be controversial at times. Leadership is not easy. It is 
not just saying we are going to do that because everybody loves it. 
Sometimes the tough decisions are the ones the public has the hardest 
time with in the worst situations--the recession. We made some 
decisions--again not perfect--but the results are slowly and surely 
coming true.
  The economy is moving in the right direction. Every time I hear from 
the other side that the private sector needs to do more--absolutely. As 
a matter of fact, the largest companies have more cash in their bank 
accounts today than they have had in decades because they have done 
well in the last few years in preparing for the new growth that is 
occurring right now in our economy.
  I didn't plan to come down here. I was getting prepared for a 
Commerce Committee hearing. The occupant of the chair and I are both on 
that committee. Anybody who suggests we are not focused on this economy 
or on job creation or figuring out how to make sure the middle-class 
taxpayers of this country get a fair shake and make sure they have a 
tax break coming forward and continuing forward--those who say we are 
not focused on that are mistaken. I learned this when I was a mayor: We 
can do more than one thing at a time.
  The reason I came down to talk is that nobody was talking. It is a 
dead zone. That is what happens. When they come down here and say: Gee, 
I wish we would be working on this or that--well, quit filibustering 
and doing the 30-hour delays and get on with the work. We are 
multitasking. The American people have asked us to work on jobs, the 
economy, taxes, and the budget. We are 100 people, and we can do this. 
Anybody who sits around and thinks we are not focused on the economy--
as someone who lived in the private sector, comes from it, who deals 
with small businesspeople every single day, I understand exactly what 
they are feeling. So those who have never experienced that should 
experience it once and understand that every day is an opportunity.
  I am going to continue to come down here and talk about the positive 
news, the opportunities that are occurring from the work we have done 
in the last 2 years. The other side may complain or argue over was it 
right or wrong. The proof will be in the pudding in the fact that other 
people--not politicians jawboning about it--in the private sector are 
telling us. We have had some good news over the last several months.
  The last point I will leave on is another bit of good news. It was 
small business again. They do an indicator and try to determine the 
confidence level of a small businessperson. That is important because 
the small business community is the largest driver of new employment 
now and in the future. So you want to make sure their confidence level 
is high. Well, in the last 5 months, it has increased every single 
month. I believe it is because of actions we have done here to give 
them faith that we believe in them, in the American people, and we 
believe the ability to move this economy forward is ahead of us, and we 
are doing it today.
  Again, I will continue to come down here with data points and 
articles--not out of liberal magazines or publications. I heard earlier 
today about some liberal agenda. I don't know what that is about. I 
know what the American agenda is. I know what Alaska's agenda is. That 
is what I am here to do. If we just get off of these partisan kinds of 
activities and focus on what is right, we can get a lot done around 
this place. So I will continue to come down here and talk about the 
positive aspects of what is going on in the economy. Believe in the 
future and have an attitude of being positive about what we can do, and 
it is amazing what this country and this economy can do.
  Mr. President, I appreciate the time I have had to discuss this 
issue. I warned my staff as I left--I said: Turn on the TV. I didn't 
tell them why I was coming here. They will ask me when I get back what 
I was doing. I will come down and talk about the positive aspects of 
this economy and will no longer listen to the other side naysay with 
negative attitudes. We have an economy that is improving--fragile but 
improving in the right direction because we on this side bet on the 
American people. I believe we bet right.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Manchin.) Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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