[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 115 (Thursday, July 28, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4973-S4974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
DEBT CEILING
Mr. REID. Mr. President, we have 5 days remaining until a few
extremist Republicans--and note I say ``a few''--drive our economy off
a cliff because they are too radical and inexperienced to compromise.
Financial experts are begging Congress to come to an agreement that
averts a first-ever default on this Nation's financial obligations.
This is what one financial analyst said yesterday about the need to
avert a default crisis which would spark a global economic depression.
The market is saying we need a deal. Default is starting to seep into
the marketplace.
It will not be long, they say, before our financial markets severely
react to continued stubbornness by the tea party Republicans, tanking
our economy. Wall Street had a very bad day yesterday--its worst in
months--largely based on the news that Congress still has not found a
path forward.
That does not only affect big investment banks or wealthy investors;
all around the country, ordinary Americans with 401(k)s and college
savings accounts lost money yesterday. Their life savings took a hit
because a small group of radical Republicans who do not represent
mainstream Americans have refused to move even 1 inch toward
compromise.
Yesterday's bad economic news should be a sign to those Republicans
who deny reality. Default will rock our financial system to its core.
Many reasonable Republicans realize time is running out. They have
urged their colleagues to compromise.
Yesterday on the Senate floor, John McCain, the Republican senior
Senator from Arizona and President Obama's opponent in the last
Presidential election, asked his own party to return to reality. It
``is not fair to the American people to hold out and say we won't agree
to raising the debt limit. . . . ''
He called the radical Republican approach--saying up is down and
denying
[[Page S4974]]
the sky is blue--``unfair'' and ``bizarro.'' Those are quotes from John
McCain. He further said:
It's time we listened to the markets. It's time we listened
to the American people and sit down and seriously negotiate.
He was talking to his fellow Republicans and, in particular, to a tea
party that does not seem to realize Republicans control only one-half
of one branch of government. That faction of the Republican Party is
holding our economy hostage. That is an understatement.
My counterpart, Senator McConnell, also urged a return to reason.
We cannot get a perfect solution, from my point of view,
controlling only the House of Representatives. So I'm
prepared to accept something less than perfect because
perfect is not achievable.
That is from Senator Mitch McConnell. Both sides know neither side
will get everything it wants. That does not mean we should not come
together to find a compromise that gives each side something it needs.
Republicans have drawn the line at ending wasteful tax breaks for
corporate jet owners and oil companies making record profits. They have
vowed to protect corporate welfare at taxpayer expense. Democrats have
vowed to protect senior citizens who rely on Social Security and
Medicare benefits. We will not allow them to suffer while Republicans
protect tax breaks for billionaires.
The compromise plan we are considering in the Senate protects both of
these priorities--both parties' priorities. Whether one agrees with the
priorities, the legislation I have on the floor in the form of an
amendment protects those priorities--Democratic priorities and
Republican priorities.
Unfortunately, in a concession to Republicans, we did not ask
millionaires and billionaires to contribute their fair share. We would
have loved to have done it. But the line has been drawn by the
Republicans and we followed that. But it does protect seniors who
Republicans insist should feel the pain.
It would also avert a default crisis while cutting $2.5 trillion from
the deficit. That is twice as much as the Boehner plan. Yet House
Republicans refuse to support the Senate compromise. I am happy to talk
to any of my Republican colleagues--I have talked to several of them, I
am happy to continue that--to listen to reasonable suggestions to make
the Senate compromise legislation even better. That would require tea
party Republicans to admit ``compromise'' is not a bad word.
Legislation is the art of compromise, and they need to learn that. A
significant number of House Republicans said their party would rather
see this Nation default on its financial obligations than cooperate
with Democrats. That says it all. It is hard to comprehend that, but
there has been a spate of these Members of the House of Representatives
who have said they would rather see the Nation default on its financial
obligations than cooperate.
This kind of thinking has been roundly rejected by the American
people. Nearly three-quarters of Americans want Congress to compromise,
even if neither side gets everything it wants. The American people know
we cannot get everything we want.
This thinking has also been rejected by reasonable Republicans. I had
the good fortune of serving with the very famous American, Fred
Thompson from Tennessee. He was famous before he got here. He is a
movie actor. He served in the Senate admirably and went back to do his
acting. Former Senator Fred Thompson--by the way, he is a Republican--
urged members of his own party in an open letter to the House GOP to
recognize a good deal when they see it. That is what he said. ``I
respectfully suggest that you rake in your chips, stuff them in your
pockets, and go home.''
The proposal on the table would cut the deficit by $2.5 trillion. If
their goal is to rein in spending, they already won. That is what Fred
Thompson said: ``If their goal is to rein in spending, they've already
won.'' Declare victory and leave. Republicans should know--this is Fred
Thompson--``when to take their chips and walk away.''
American writer Elbert Hubbard said, ``It is easy to get everything
you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot
get.'' That is what this is all about. ``It is easy to get everything
you want, provided you first learn to do without the things you cannot
get.''
There are things that either side cannot get. Accept that and move
on. Republicans cannot get the short-term Band-Aid they will vote on in
the House today. It will not get one Democratic vote in the Senate. All
53 members of the Senate Democratic caucus wrote to the Speaker last
night--the letter was hand-delivered to him--to tell him why we will
not vote for it.
The economy needs more certainty than the Speaker's proposal would
provide. We must not be back in 6 weeks doing the same thing I have
been involved in for 7 or 8 months. We do not need to do that.
Washington has been locked down with this debt crisis debate. The White
House is not doing all they need to do. We are not doing the things we
need to do. We cannot come back to this in just a few short weeks. That
is what would happen.
We must not be back here in 6 weeks or 6 months debating whether to
allow our Nation to default on its financial obligations for the
Republican rightwing that seems to be controlling so much of what they
are doing in the House.
It would be easy for Republicans to get nearly everything they want
if only they embraced the Senate's true compromise plan and stop, as
Senator McCain put it, deceiving the American people--his words not
mine.
The question remains, will my Republican colleagues be wise enough to
end this stalemate?
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