[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 158 (Saturday, December 4, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8513-S8514]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                TAX CUTS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, there is a recurring gag in the comic strip 
``Peanuts'' with which we are all familiar. Charlie Brown is getting 
ready to kick a field goal. Lucy is holding the ball while Charlie runs 
up to the ball. At the last second, Lucy pulls the ball away. Charlie 
Brown flies into the air, comes crashing back down, and falls flat on 
his back. We have all seen this time and time again. But what makes 
this gag funny is the same thing that made it famous. It wasn't so much 
that Lucy was tricking Charlie Brown; it was that it kept happening 
over and over. Charlie Brown kept being tricked.

[[Page S8514]]

  It is obvious by now that our Republican friends have drawn their 
political strategy from this cartoon. We have all heard Republicans 
weep for the deficit they say they fear. Democrats agree that we need 
to do something about the deficit. We have said: How about cutting the 
deficit by admitting we can't afford a tax break for millionaires and 
billionaires, a tax break that would add, under the legislation offered 
by my Republican colleague, Senator McConnell, $4 trillion to the debt, 
as this is a tax cut many admit they don't need. When was the last time 
we heard an investor ask for less money? What did the Republicans do? 
They pulled away the football and said: Rather than reduce the deficit, 
we would really rather give an unnecessary, unwanted, unaffordable 
handout to the richest of the rich.
  Then they went a step further. They pretend the real victims here are 
small businesses, conveniently bending the rules so that multimillion-
dollar Wall Street firms, companies such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and 
enormous conglomerates such as the Tribune Company, count as small 
businesses. It is a sham. In fact, the way Republicans count, President 
Obama himself, who has made a lot of money on his books, and most movie 
stars and professional athletes count as small businesses. If that is 
the way they count, perhaps that explains why Republican economic 
policies nearly led us into a depression. It is why this time around 
perhaps we should not count on their ideas to help us recover.
  This week, every Republican sent me a letter saying they would not 
let legislators legislate, that they wouldn't let the Senate operate 
until we addressed the tax cuts. So Democrats called their bluff. We 
said: OK, let's talk about tax cuts. Let's vote. The other body had 
already passed a middle-class tax cut, and we can do the same. The 
majority in the Senate, like the majority of the country, believes the 
middle class deserves this tax cut. The minority in the Senate 
believes, against all evidence to the contrary, that millionaires and 
billionaires and big CEOs who ship jobs overseas deserve this giveaway. 
We disagree, but that is why the Founders created this body--to debate 
and settle those disagreements. So we said: Let's vote. And what did 
the Republicans do again? Just like Lucy, they pulled the football away 
and said: No deal. They then sat on the ball while we watched the clock 
count down. That is why we are here on a Saturday morning when we could 
have resolved this days ago.
  In that same letter, Republicans claimed their top priority is 
putting people back to work. It is a priority with which Democrats 
agree. The difference is we really mean it. My State of Nevada has the 
highest unemployment rate in the country. I know my most important job 
is to create jobs. So Democrats again gave them the chance to walk the 
walk. We tried to pass a bill that would extend unemployment insurance 
for so many Americans who lost their jobs in the recession and are 
still trying hard to find work.

  Economists tell us that unemployment insurance is one of the best 
ways to energize the economy and create jobs. We know that for every 
dollar of unemployment insurance that goes out, at least $1.61 comes 
back into the economy. It is a good investment. The Council of Economic 
Advisers said this week that failing to extend this lifeline would cost 
the country 600,000 more jobs.
  What did Republicans do? Once again, they did their best Lucy 
impression, pulling away the football and saying: I object. They 
stepped up and did the same thing they have done over and over. They 
stopped us from creating jobs. Like the football Charlie Brown can't 
kick, the money that would immediately go back into the economy remains 
out of reach for those who would spend it the fastest.
  Finally, the Senator from Arizona, his party's nominee for President 
last election, has given a dizzying defense of don't ask, don't tell--
an obsolete, embarrassing, and discriminatory policy that weakens our 
military and offends our values. First, Senator McCain said he 
seriously would consider repealing it if the military leadership 
thought we should. When the military leadership said it should be 
repealed, he pulled away the football. Then Senator McCain said he 
would need to see a study from the Pentagon. When the Pentagon produced 
a study saying repeal would have no negative impact, he pulled away the 
football again. And for his latest trick, he said yesterday that he 
opposed repealing don't ask, don't tell, a proposal that would be a 
great stride forward for both equality and military readiness, because 
of the economy. I repeat: The senior Senator from Arizona said he 
couldn't support repealing don't ask, don't tell because of the 
economy. I have no idea what he is talking about, and no one else does 
either.
  Yesterday, we also heard the Republican leader say:

       Americans don't want to see meaningless theatrics in 
     Congress. They want us to do something about the economy.

  He is right. The theatrics need to end. The time to do something 
about our economy needs to begin now, and what better way to 
demonstrate that than by doing what the American people and economists 
of every political position know is the right thing to do--protect the 
middle class from higher taxes and reject a $4 trillion bailout for 
billionaires.
  Our economy is not a cartoon. The jobs of hard-working Americans are 
not political footballs. Instead of taking their ball and going home 
when they don't get their way, it is time Republicans realize we are 
not here to embarrass one another. We are here to get things done. We 
are here to help our economy grow again. It is time Republicans 
recognize that, like Charlie Brown and Lucy, we are on the same team.
  Mr. President, we are 2 minutes or so from the 2 hours for the time 
on the tax cut debate. We have a couple of amendments. Unless there is 
objection, we should go ahead and start that.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REID. This will provide an extra 2 minutes.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak under the 
time allotted to Senator Baucus on the first amendment.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. REID. I think there is a consent in effect that Senator Baucus 
would control a half hour and Senator Schumer would control a half hour 
of the time. If not, I ask unanimous consent that that be so.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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