[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 187 (Wednesday, December 7, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8252]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1920
                        AMERICANS DESERVE BETTER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mack) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. MACK. Mr. Speaker, I think there are a lot of people back home 
who are watching this debate unfold, and more importantly, are watching 
the Congress and the administration. And, you know, I think a lot of 
people at home are scratching their head. They're saying we the people 
are outraged at this administration and this Congress. And they should 
be.
  The White House and their liberal allies in Congress and the media go 
on a nonstop bashing of a group of Americans who are productive and 
hardworking. Class warfare is as despicable as any other type of 
stereotyping, and putting citizen against citizen for political gain is 
outrageous and it's wrong.
  Listen to this. The people are told that a tax cut is a tax increase 
or a tax increase isn't really a tax increase because there are savings 
that can be made elsewhere. That doesn't even make sense. Only in 
Washington can someone say we have to pay for a tax cut. Think about 
that. What we're saying is, what Washington is saying is, we have to 
pay for a tax cut. Well, whose money is it? Government doesn't make 
money. It's the people's money. Yet somehow up here in Washington we 
keep saying we have to pay for a tax increase. It's that hardworking 
family that has earned that money. It is not Washington's money.
  And people, frankly, I think are disgusted with the notion that 
somehow the paradigm in Washington is we have to pay for a tax cut. 
It's their money. Something is very wrong here, and this body is part 
of the problem.
  Let's put out the facts; facts, not spin. Government money doesn't 
exist. That's a fact. It's the people's money.
  Here's another fact. If there are projects that can be cut, they 
should be cut. They shouldn't be traded like futures in the stock 
market. If we believe that we ought to extend the payroll tax cut 
extension, let's extend it. Let's stop playing games about moving money 
around from one program to another or keeping a bucket of projects or 
programs that we can save to cut at a time to bargain for something 
else.
  It's time that we get serious, and the American people are saying 
they've had enough. They've had enough of what they're seeing here in 
Washington.
  Let me say this one more time. Pitting American against American is 
un-American and outrageous and deserves the condemnation of each and 
every one of us in this Congress. This is not the America we know and 
love. We the people deserve better.
  I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________