[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 31 (Thursday, March 3, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1171-S1172]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          GOVERNMENT SPENDING

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for 2 years now Washington Democrats 
have taken fiscal recklessness to new

[[Page S1172]]

heights. They have spent trillions of dollars we do not have on things 
we do not need and cannot afford. The amount of red ink Democrats plan 
to rack up this year alone would exceed all the debt run up by the 
Federal Government from its inception through 1984.
  This recklessness is the reason we have seen a national uprising 
against their policies. Americans have demanded we reverse this 
recklessness and restore balance. Democrats have resisted at every 
turn.
  To conceal the extent of their spending plans, they did not even pass 
a budget last year. After a nationwide repudiation of their policies in 
November, they proposed a massive spending bill loaded with new 
spending that amounted to a slap in the face to the voters.
  Following the outrage that provoked, they tried to get a spending 
freeze past the public. They said: How about we just lock in place the 
out-of-control spending levels we set last year?
  To them, this entire debate is not about how to respond to the 
American people. It is about seeing what they can get away with.
  Well, Republicans have taken a different approach. Responding to our 
constituents, we have insisted the status quo simply will not cut it 
anymore. We have insisted on actually shrinking the size of government. 
And yesterday we delivered, by forcing the first actual cut in 
government spending in recent memory.
  While it was just a small first step, yesterday we showed it is 
actually possible to change the status quo in Washington. Not bad.
  What about the White House? The White House responded to all of this 
by announcing they want to have a meeting. We are happy to go to the 
meeting, but putting a meeting on the schedule does not change the fact 
that neither the White House nor a single Democrat in Congress has 
proposed a plan that would allow the government to remain open and that 
would respond to the voters by reining in spending.

  All we get is talk. The President made an audacious assertion 
yesterday after the 2-week CR was passed. He said he wants his advisers 
to come up with a plan that ``makes sure we are living within our 
means.'' Live within our means?
  Let me remind you, Mr. President, that the President's budget has us 
amassing a national debt of more than $20 trillion within the next 5 
years--amassing a national debt of over $20 trillion within the next 5 
years. We are projected to spend this year $1.6 trillion this year more 
than we are taking in. That is a $1.6 trillion deficit this year.
  Does this mean we can expect the President's Budget Director to 
present us with a piece of paper that outlines $1.6 trillion in cuts 
for the current fiscal year? If so, that is great news.
  If the President's measure of success, as he said, is a plan that 
makes sure we actually live within our means, the way most people do, 
count on me showing up early for this meeting. Unfortunately, I suspect 
the President is once again just saying something he thinks people want 
to hear.
  The fact is, if Democrats had a plan of their own that would cut one 
dollar in spending, I think we would have seen it by now. But we have 
not. Democrats have abdicated all responsibility for their own 
recklessness over the last 2 years. They have left us to do something 
about it.
  We made a step in the right direction yesterday after months of 
resistance on their part. Now we look forward to their plan. It is time 
for Democrats to present a serious plan of their own that addresses 
this crisis. It is time for Democrats to take the concerns of the 
American people seriously.

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