[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 15, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S663-S664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I do wish to speak about the fiscal 
year 2013 budget that came out this week from the President, and I 
guess I would start by saying here we go again. Here we go again.
  We have another budget given to us by the President that increases 
spending and increases taxes to a huge extent. It is stunning, $1.9 
trillion in tax increases in the President's proposal over the next 
decade.
  Instead of coming forward and giving responsible solutions to a $1 
trillion annual deficit--which is what we have, $1 trillion. My gosh, 
we didn't even have debt that was $1 trillion. Now we have debt that is 
almost $16 trillion, and we are talking about more deficits?
  Most important, the President didn't put anything in his budget on 
entitlement reform. So he gave us another budget proposal that spends 
too much, borrows too much, and taxes too much, which is the same thing 
that happened last year.
  The President's request proposes $11 trillion in gross new debt--$11 
trillion in gross new debt--over the next 10 years that would make our 
total national debt, if we stuck to this budget, $25.9 trillion in 
2022. Oh, my gosh, $25.9 trillion, and we are talking about this as a 
serious proposal? These numbers are untenable. It is a path that is 
unthinkable for this country.
  So $1.4 trillion of the President's proposed tax increases over the 
next decade would fall on individuals. The budget that the President 
put forward explicitly states: Immediate broad tax cuts for the middle 
class are far more effective at creating jobs and growing the economy. 
I would agree with that. Broad tax cuts for the middle class would be 
effective at creating jobs and growing the economy.
  But the President fails to acknowledge where the tax increases fall. 
It is on the people who own and work in small businesses, and they are 
the ones who have the ability to hire if we would let them.
  According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 50 percent of all 
flowthrough business income will be subject to the proposed tax 
increases. The National Federation of Independent Business reports that 
75 percent of small businesses pay taxes on their business income at 
the individual tax rate because they are organized as flowthrough 
businesses, such as partnerships, S corporations, LLCs, and sole 
proprietorships. So the President is going to the heart of the 
potential hiring in our economy; that is, small business, and they are 
going to increase taxes.

  I would say the constant drumbeat of this administration for new 
taxes is putting a blanket on present-day potential hiring. It is 
putting a blanket on growth because our small businesses see the 
President continuing to come forward again and again and again and talk 
about new taxes on the people who could create jobs.
  Incredibly, the $1 trillion in new taxes doesn't even pay down the 
debt. It doesn't lower the deficit. The new taxes the President is 
proposing just increase spending. Oh, my gosh. Instead of cutting 
deficits and responsible spending cuts, we are talking about new taxes 
and new spending.
  Where have we heard this before? We have heard it out of Washington, 
DC, for years. It is the wrong approach, and it is why we are in 
trouble right now with a $15 trillion debt.
  Instead, we need to have sensible spending reductions that meet the 
caps set under the Budget Control Act and carefully considered 
investments in strategic, nationally important projects that will have 
a long-term effect on job increases because of creativity and 
entrepreneurship.
  We must cut spending. It is simple. That is it. We have to cut 
spending if we are going to get our fiscal house in order.
  Most important, we need to address entitlements, which the President 
did not do in his budget proposal. If there is anything urgent in this 
country that the President should take the leadership position to do, 
it is a bipartisan approach to entitlement reform. Our fiscal problems 
are inextricably linked if we can't fix our broken entitlement system.
  Today, mandatory spending--entitlements--are approximately 55 percent 
of our Federal budget. So we have less than half the budget in the 
discretionary spending that we pass appropriations for each year. If we 
don't take that other 50 percent and stop that growth, do you know what 
is going to happen?
  According to the Congressional Budget Office, our mandatory spending 
by 2022--10 years from now--will be approximately 74 percent of total 
Federal spending. Over seventy percent of Federal spending will be 
mandatory. This is out of control.
  If we are going to stop this growing deficit and debt cycle, we have 
to address entitlements. People are living longer than they were living 
when Social Security was passed in 1935, but we have not addressed that 
change in our demographics to make sure the program will last. The 
longer we put it off, the harder it is going to be. If we do not solve 
this problem, current and future retirees will confront a guaranteed 23 
percent cut in benefits in 2036. In today's dollars, that would be a 
$271 cut in a beneficiary's monthly payment. There is not anyone here 
who wants that to happen--we know that.
  I have introduced legislation with Senator Kyl, the ``Defend and Save 
Social Security Act.'' It gradually increases the retirement age over 
11

[[Page S664]]

years--that is how gradual it is. It would go from 66 to 67 to 68 and 
end at 69--over 11 years. It is 3 months a year that the increase would 
occur, and it decreases the annual cost-of-living adjustment if it 
exceeds 1 percent. When inflation goes above 1 percent, the cost-of-
living adjustment will kick in. So if you have rampant inflation, such 
as 2 or 3 percent, there will be a cost-of-living adjustment. My bill 
with Senator Kyl will make the Social Security trust fund solvent 
through 2085 without raising taxes or cutting core benefits.
  Saving our programs, such as Social Security and Medicare, will 
require bipartisan leadership. We cannot do it with one party. We 
cannot do it with one party because of the 30-second ad. We must do it 
together.
  I know my time is up, and my colleague from Arkansas is on the Senate 
floor. I would just say that we could cut $416 billion, nearly $\1/2\ 
trillion over 10 years, if we would start addressing just Social 
Security right now. Let's do it with bipartisan leadership, starting 
with the President, the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and 
the House, which is controlled by Republicans. We will have to do it 
together. Let's do it.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arkansas is 
recognized.
  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, on Monday morning the country was 
presented with President Obama's budget proposal for the fiscal year. 
If you were only to listen to the President and his advisers, you would 
think this proposal is great for the Nation. The Acting Budget Director 
says the President's budget ``makes the right investments.'' The head 
of the President's National Economic Council used several sports 
metaphors to make the case that ``the President has very much stepped 
up to the plate,'' and the President himself said his budget makes 
``some tough choices in order to put the country back on a more 
sustainable fiscal path.'' The reason they are so excited about this 
proposal is that they believe, in an election year, they have offered 
every ally something to woo their support. This budget proposal truly 
does try to be everything for everyone. The problem is that no one wins 
with it.
  When you scratch the surface of this proposal, the shine quickly 
wears off. The deficit reduction claims the administration throws out 
to defend this proposal simply do not hold water. You cannot claim $1 
trillion in cuts that Congress pushed through during the debt ceiling 
debate as new cuts, nor can you say with all honesty that $850 billion 
in war savings are real cuts. This money was never going to be spent in 
the first place.
  When you get down to it, President Obama was never serious about his 
pledge to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term. Like 
every budget this administration has proposed, this one was written 
with red ink. The deficit spending proposed in the President's fiscal 
year 2013 budget topped $1 trillion again. This is simply an 
unsustainable rate of spending.
  On Monday, the President's team was doing a full-scale PR push for 
that budget. At one point during the rollout, a reporter asked the 
President's top economic aides what ever happened to that pledge the 
President had made to the American people. Gone from their answers was 
the tough talk about making difficult decisions and facing challenges 
we have long neglected. Instead, his advisers were left to pull out the 
old standby excuse that the President's team simply did not realize how 
bad the economy actually was when they first took over.
  Clearly, they still do not realize it now. Not only does the 
President's budget ignore the very real disarray our fiscal house is 
in, it makes it worse. Since President Obama took office, our national 
debt has shot up 42 percent. Under President Obama's watch, the 
national debt has jumped to a jaw-dropping $15.1 trillion. This is the 
fourth year in a row that the budget would run a deficit above $1.29 
trillion. When it comes to fiscal responsibility, this is not a record 
of which to be proud.
  America deserves better than a collection of tax hikes, phony 
savings, and additional debt. The President's budget proposal is bad 
for seniors, as it takes no steps to protect and strengthen Medicare 
and Social Security. It will hurt the chances of an economic recovery 
through tax hikes and will add $11 trillion more to our already 
staggering national debt in a 10-year period. We cannot continue to 
keep going down this road. America's fiscal health is at stake. We have 
to stop spending more than we take in. If not, we risk going in the 
direction of Greece, Portugal, Italy, and other European countries that 
have spent their way to the brink of default.
  As we head into the final year of President Obama's first term, we 
have already witnessed the most rapid increase in debt under any U.S. 
President. With our national debt already the size of our entire 
economy, the President has proposed a budget that calls for hundreds of 
billions of dollars in new spending. If we follow through with this 
budget, deficit spending would exceed $600 billion every year but one 
over the next decade. Our national debt would grow to $18.7 trillion.
  President Obama would like you to believe that if we simply raise 
taxes we can solve all of our fiscal problems. A recent CBO report 
shows that spending is the primary cause of our fiscal crisis and 
supports spending cuts rather than tax increases to reverse the trend. 
But the President is holding steadfast to his desire to raise taxes as 
an answer. The President's failed policy of borrowing, spending, and 
taxing is just what the CBO is warning us to avoid. It has not worked 
in the past, and it will not work in the future.
  Washington does not have a revenue problem, Washington has a spending 
problem. The fact that President Obama still believes we can tax our 
way out of the problem reveals a huge disconnect with the American 
people. When it comes to our country's budget, Americans have a right 
to expect accountability, honesty, and responsibility. This proposal 
has none of those.
  If President Obama refuses to acknowledge and address the very real 
economic crisis facing our country, let's show America that we will. We 
can do so by rejecting the White House's proposal and passing a 
responsible budget that puts our Nation back on a fiscally responsible 
path.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Madam President, now what is the pending business?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate is in a period of 
morning business.

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