[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 157 (Wednesday, October 19, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6701-S6702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             RAISING TAXES

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I want to make a couple of 
observations this morning about what is going on in Washington at the 
moment and what is not. What is going on is that Democrats are obsessed 
for some reason with raising taxes. That is the only possible way to 
explain their latest idea to impose a permanent tax hike on about 
300,000 U.S. business owners and then use the money to bail out cities 
and States that cannot pay their bills. That is the proposal we will be 
voting on apparently tomorrow.
  I do not know if our friends on the other side have noticed, but 
Washington cannot pay its own bills right now. Think about it. The 
Federal Government spent $3.6 trillion last fiscal year, a new all-time 
record. And in the wake of the single largest spending year in history, 
Democrats want to put together another bailout.
  Add up the projected deficits of all 50 States this year and you get 
$103 billion. That is all 50 States' deficits added up. Well, what 
about us? What about us here in Washington? We are expected to run a 
deficit of $1.3 trillion. Washington needs to prove it can get its own 
house in order before it starts demanding more money from job creators 
and throwing together another bailout.
  This is the third time in 3 years the President has asked us to bail 
out the States. How many more times? And how many more billions before 
someone realizes this is a very bad idea? More bailouts. More bailouts 
are not going to solve the problem. They will just enable it.
  But the bottom line is this: Everyone knows the last thing you want 
to do in a jobs crisis is raise taxes. It is common sense. The 
President himself has said as much. But for some reason he is 
determined to keep trying anyway. And Republicans are not about to go 
along with it. So Democratic leaders in Congress have decided to do 
nothing instead. If they do not get their tax hike, then they do not 
want to do anything at all. That is why rather than working with us on 
legislation that would get the government out of the way so the private 
sector can create jobs, including legislation that is in the 
President's own bill, they have

[[Page S6702]]

choreographed a political sideshow this very week.
  Here is how it works: The President proposes a stimulus bill and 
calls it a jobs bill. Congress rejects it in a bipartisan way for very 
sensible and straightforward reasons. The President then goes on a bus 
tour to criticize Republicans for voting against the so-called jobs 
bill. Democratic leaders consult with the White House on breaking the 
same bill into smaller pieces. And how do they break it up? By 
identifying parts they know Republicans will oppose, then add the tax 
hike just to make sure. Then another bus tour or a press conference 
with the President complaining about Republicans again. Repeat for 13 
months in the hopes that Americans will forget they are all now living 
under the economic policies that were enacted during the first 2 years 
of the Obama administration, and hope for success. That is the game 
plan. In other words, they are actually designing legislation on the 
other side to fail so they will have someone else to blame for the 
economy 13 months from now. That is what is going on in the Senate this 
week.
  So what is not going on? What is not going on is the kind of 
bipartisan cooperation Americans want. My friend the majority leader is 
out there telling people the Republicans are rooting for the economy to 
fail. Nothing could be further from the truth. Look, if Republicans 
wanted the economy to fail, we would all line up behind the President's 
economic policies rather than opposing them, because they have not 
solved this jobs crisis we have been in. We have done that.

  The President got everything he wanted the first 2 years he was in 
office. So I think it is time Democrats realize they were elected to 
lead, not to choreograph political theater. It is completely 
preposterous. At a time when 14 million Americans are looking for a job 
in this country, for the President to be riding around on a bus saying 
we should raise taxes, it is completely preposterous for the President 
to be riding around on a bus saying we should be raising taxes on the 
very folks who create jobs.
  Think about that. We have 14 million people out of work and two self-
identified conservatives for every liberal in this country, and the 
President is out there doing his best Howard Dean impersonation. He is 
completely out of touch. Let's forget about the tax hikes.
  Let's drop the talking points about millionaires and billionaires and 
let's work together on bipartisan jobs legislation that is designed to 
pass, not designed to fail.
  Republican leadership in the House and Republican leadership here in 
the Senate has been crystal clear. We are ready to work with the White 
House on legislation on which we can all agree. The two parties did it 
last week on trade bills. There are other areas where we can do the 
same.
  The House voted on three bills this year, one as recently as last 
week, to roll back excessive regulations by bureaucrats in Washington 
who are destroying jobs and threatening to put even more Americans out 
of work. All three of those House bills got solid bipartisan support. 
Why do we not have those votes in the Senate and show that we can work 
together to help businesses create jobs? Let's park the campaign bus, 
put away the talking points, and do something to address the jobs 
crisis.
  The American people want action. The election is 13 months away. Why 
do we not do what we were elected to do?

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