[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 154 (Thursday, October 31, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7712-S7714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. SANDERS. First of all, I congratulate the Senator from Michigan 
and the Senator from Missouri for touching on what is obviously a very 
serious national issue; that is, how we deal with the crisis of mental 
health in this country. I thank both of them for the work they are 
doing.
  I would like to say a few words as a member of the conference 
committee on the budget, which is hoping to avert another government 
shutdown and come up with a sensible long-term budget for our country.
  The first point I would make is that when I return from Vermont and 
come here to Capitol Hill, I am always amazed at how different the 
world view is here as opposed to the real world--whether it is Vermont 
or when I travel to other States around the country. It almost seems as 
if we are living on two separate planets.
  As a member of the Budget Committee, I understand, as do the American 
people, that a $17 trillion national debt and a $700 billion deficit is 
a serious issue that must be addressed. The American people know that, 
but what they also understand is that there is an even more important 
issue out there; that is, real unemployment today is close to 14 
percent. Youth unemployment--an issue Pope Francis is beginning to talk 
about a great deal--in this country is approximately 20 percent. 
African-American youth unemployment is over 40 percent.

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  The American people are saying: Yes, deal with the deficit, but do 
not forget that we continue to have a major economic crisis with 
millions of Americans unemployed. And for many other Americans who are 
working, their wages are deplorably low. We have millions of folks 
working for $8 or $9 an hour who cannot take care of their families 
under those wages.
  While the middle class is disappearing and the number of people 
living in poverty is at an alltime high, we also have another dynamic 
we don't talk about too much here for obvious reasons; that is, the 
wealthiest people are doing phenomenally well, corporate profits are at 
recordbreaking levels, and the gap between the very wealthy and 
everybody else is growing wider and wider. We are surrounded by 
lobbyists representing the wealthy and large corporations, and they 
don't really like that discussion, so we don't talk about that too 
much, but it remains absolutely true.
  When I go home and talk to Vermonters or when I go around the 
country, people tell me--and the polls tell me--that the American 
people--regardless of political persuasion, by the way--are in 
significant agreement about a lot of issues. We don't see that 
reflected here, but the American people are in significant agreement. 
If we ask the American people, I suspect, in North Dakota, Vermont, 
Maryland, or anywhere else whether they think we should cut Social 
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, they would overwhelmingly say no.
  These are tough economic times. Poverty is going up among seniors. 
People are worried about health care costs, and these programs are 
vital to the survival of so many people. So do not cut Social Security, 
Medicare, and Medicaid. That is not what Bernie Sanders is saying; that 
is what the American people are saying. That is what Democrats are 
saying, that is what Republicans are saying, that is what Independents 
are saying, and that is what people who agree with the tea party are 
saying. There is not a whole lot of dispute outside of Washington, but 
inside Washington the picture becomes a little different. We have 
virtually all Republicans talking about cutting Social Security, 
Medicare, and Medicaid. We have the President talking about cutting 
Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. We have some Democrats talking 
about it. But that is not what the American people believe.
  According to the latest poll I have seen on this issue--the National 
Journal/United Technologies poll--81 percent of the American people do 
not want to cut Medicare, 76 percent of the American people do not want 
to cut Social Security, and 60 percent of the American people do not 
want to cut Medicaid. So I have a very radical idea for my colleagues. 
What about occasionally--we don't have to overdo it--listening to the 
people who sent us here? What they are saying is they do not want to 
cut these terribly important programs.
  Second of all, what do the American people want? What they want is 
for us to invest in our infrastructure and create the millions of jobs 
we desperately need. According to a Gallup poll of March 3, 2013, 75 
percent of the American people--that includes 56 percent of 
Republicans, 74 percent of Independents, and 93 percent of Democrats--
support ``a federal jobs creation law [that would spend government 
money for a program] designed to create more than 1 million new jobs.''
  The American people are saying: Yes, the deficit is important, but 
what is more important is creating jobs, and rebuilding our crumbling 
infrastructure is one way to do it, but don't cut Social Security, 
Medicare, and Medicaid.
  What else are the American people saying? Well, not too surprisingly, 
when we see so much income and wealth inequality in America, the 
American people believe that when 95 percent of all new income in the 
last few years has gone to the top 1 percent, given the fact that the 
wealthy are doing phenomenally well, maybe they should be asked to pay 
a little more in taxes, and maybe we should end all of the corporate 
loopholes that currently exist.
  Again, that is not Bernie Sanders. According to a January 29, 2013, 
poll by Hart Research Associates, 66 percent of the American people 
believe the wealthiest 2 percent should pay more in taxes and 64 
percent of the American people believe large corporations should pay 
more in taxes than they do today.
  The American people are giving us a solution to the major crises 
facing the American people. They want to invest in our economy, they 
want to create jobs, they want to ask the wealthy and large 
corporations to pay more in taxes, and they do not want to cut Social 
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. That is the real world, but then when 
we come back to Washington, what are people saying? Let's cut Social 
Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; let's not invest in our 
infrastructure and create jobs; and, in fact, let's give more tax 
breaks to the wealthy and large corporations. This is an ``Alice in 
Wonderland'' world. The American people are saying one thing and the 
lobbyists around here and many Members of Congress are saying something 
very different.

  The deficit is an important issue, and we should be proud, by the 
way, that we have cut the deficit in half in the last few years. We 
have more to go, but we should take some credit for that. But when we 
talk about the deficit, it is very important for us to remember how we 
got to where we are today--a $17 trillion national debt and a $650 
billion-or-so deficit.
  I find it interesting that some of those people who were most active 
in causing the deficit are now standing up saying: Oh, I am really 
worried about this deficit that I helped cause; therefore, we have to 
cut all these programs that working people and children and the elderly 
need. So let's take a brief look back into the recent past and find out 
how we got to where we are today and who voted for those programs.
  As I hope most Americans know, in January 2001 when President Clinton 
left office and President Bush took over, this country had a $236 
billion surplus--a $236 billion surplus. That is quite a large surplus. 
The Congressional Budget Office projected that the 10-year budget 
surplus would be $5.6 trillion; that there would be a huge increase in 
our budget surplus. The projections were very strong. In fact, they 
projected that we could erase the national debt by 2011. Imagine that. 
That was where we were heading.
  Well, President Bush took office and a number of things happened. We 
went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. I voted for the war in 
Afghanistan; I strongly opposed the war in Iraq. But be that as it may, 
many of my friends, who are great deficit hawks, forgot to pay for 
those wars. Those wars are estimated to cost somewhere around $6 
trillion. So folks who are standing up today saying: Gee, we just can't 
afford nutrition programs for children, they didn't have a problem 
voting for two wars and not paying for them. They also did not have a 
problem voting for huge tax breaks that went to the wealthiest people 
in this country, and they also did not have a problem voting for a 
Medicare Part D prescription drug program--written by the insurance 
companies, by the way, by the pharmaceutical industry--which also added 
to the deficit.
  The point I am making is that many of the folks who are standing here 
demanding cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid voted for two 
wars, tax breaks for the rich, and an unfunded Medicare Part D program. 
Then on top of all that, we had the Wall Street crash, which resulted 
in less revenue coming in to the Federal Government. Add all that stuff 
up and you have a large deficit.
  Let me conclude by simply saying at a time when we have massive 
wealth and income inequality in America, which is something we should 
focus on from both a moral perspective as well as an economic 
perspective; at a time when the middle class is disappearing and 
millions of people are working longer hours for lower wages, at a time 
when we have the highest rate of childhood poverty in the 
industrialized world, at a time when senior poverty is increasing, at a 
time when we have 20 percent youth unemployment in this country, in my 
humble opinion, we do not balance the budget on the backs of the most 
vulnerable people in this country--working people, the elderly, the 
children, the sick, and low-income people. That is not what we do.
  What we should do is go to those people who are doing very well and 
say to

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them: You know what. Welcome to the United States of America. You are 
part of our country, and you are part of our economy. This country has 
problems now. You, if you are a large corporation--one out of four 
large corporations paying nothing in Federal income taxes--you are 
going to have to start paying your taxes. You can't just stash your 
money in the Cayman Islands and in other tax havens. And if you are an 
extremely wealthy person doing well, you are going to have to 
contribute more in tax revenue.
  The bottom line is that we need to create jobs in this country, we 
need to protect the most vulnerable people in this country, and we need 
to do it in a way which is morally right and which makes good economic 
sense.
  With that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.

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