[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 167 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7119-S7120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUPERCOMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS
Mr. SANDERS. Madam President, there has been a lot of discussion in
the Senate, in the House, and in the media about what the
supercommittee is doing and what they should be doing. The American
people understand their responsibility in terms of trying to reduce our
national debt and our deficit is difficult. I wish them the best of
luck in coming up with a solution.
My hope, simply stated, is that the supercommittee will do what the
American people want them to do. The American people, through
demonstrations all over this country and in poll after poll, have made
it pretty clear what they want to see happen. The American people are
becoming more and more aware that there is something very wrong in this
country when we have the most unequal distribution of income and wealth
of any major country on Earth; when the top 1 percent earns more income
than the bottom 50 percent; when in a recent 25-year period, 80 percent
of all new income went to the top 1 percent; and when the gap between
the very rich and everybody else is wider today than it has ever been
since 1928, the year before the Great Depression.
If anyone thinks distribution of income in this country is unfair,
then they should look at distribution of wealth, which is much more
unfair. Today the wealthiest 400 Americans own more wealth than the
bottom half of America, 150 million people--400 people, 150 million
Americans. That unbelievable inequality in terms of wealth, in my view,
is not only morally wrong, it is very bad economics, and it is not
sustainable.
When the supercommittee deliberates as to where they should go, I
think one direction is very clear. The American people of all political
spectrums have made their point of view known very strongly on this
issue. Whether Democrat, Independent, or Republican, poll after poll
shows when the wealthiest people in this country are becoming
wealthier; when, as Warren Buffett reminds us, their effective tax
rate--i.e. real tax rate--is the lowest it has been in decades; yes,
the wealthiest people in this country are going to have to pay more in
taxes to enable us to go forward on deficit reduction.
So any serious plan brought forth by the supercommittee must ask the
wealthiest people in this country to pay more in taxes. Furthermore, as
I think everybody knows, we have corporation after corporation that
benefits from huge tax loopholes.
A study just came out today that shows one out of four major
corporations pays nothing in taxes. Recently, there are examples that
major corporations made billions of dollars in profit and not only paid
nothing in taxes but got rebates from the IRS. Many of these
corporations stash their profits in tax havens in the Cayman Islands
and elsewhere to avoid U.S. taxes.
I think the American people are very clear; if we are going to go
forward with deficit reduction, large corporations are also going to
have to start paying their fair share of taxes. This is across the
political spectrum.
I hope the supercommittee is hearing and understands that any
agreement must contain significant revenue from the wealthiest people
in this country and from the largest corporations.
Furthermore, at a time when military spending has tripled since 1997,
I hope as part of their agreement that the supercommittee takes a hard
look at our defense budget and asks whether it is necessary that the
United States of America spends more on defense than the entire rest of
the world combined.
Those are some of the areas I hope the supercommittee will explore:
asking the wealthy to start paying their fair share of taxes, ending
tax loopholes for large corporations, and taking a hard look at
military spending which has tripled since 1997.
Then there is another area the supercommittee must also look at; that
is, to understand that in the midst of the worst recession since the
Great Depression, a recession caused by the greed and recklessness and
illegal behavior on Wall Street, the supercommittee must not cut Social
Security, cut Medicare, or cut Medicaid. Social Security is the most
successful Federal program in the history of our country. It has a $2.5
trillion surplus. It can pay out all benefits for the next 25 years
because it is funded by the payroll tax. It has not contributed one
nickel to our deficit. The supercommittee must not cut Social Security.
Madam President, 50 million Americans have no health insurance and
many others are underinsured. According to a study at Harvard
University, 45,000 Americans die each year because they do not get to
the doctor when they should. Under those conditions it
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would be immoral, it would be wrong for the supercommittee to cut
Medicare and to cut Medicaid.
I hope the supercommittee does what the American people have said
very loudly and clearly--they have said it in demonstrations, they have
said it in polls, they have said it in communications with their
Members in the House and the Senate--we have an opportunity to make
significant progress in terms of deficit reduction, but that deficit
reduction should not take place on the backs of the elderly, the
children, the sick, and the poor. Those populations, the most
vulnerable people in this country, are hurting enough right now.
I hope the supercommittee has the courage to do what is right. I hope
they have the courage to do what the American people want them to do.
I yield the floor and note the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Franken). The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. WHITEHOUSE. I ask that I be allowed to speak for up to 15
minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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