[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 177 (Wednesday, November 1, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8299-H8300]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          REPUBLICAN TAX PLAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Wisconsin (Ms. Moore) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. MOORE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today under the ``E Pluribus Unum'' to 
give voice to the elderly, the children, the disabled, the most 
vulnerable who are once again facing your proposal, Mr. Speaker, to rip 
healthcare and the safety net from them.
  Is this the best you can do, Mr. Speaker, to once again, over and 
over again, propose this legislation to cut trillions of dollars from 
Medicaid and Medicare to fund tax cuts for corporations and for 
billionaires, and to do this, to slam this through the House without 
transparency?
  Mr. Speaker, Republicans like to call me a ``tax and spend liberal,'' 
but today we see this GOP fiscal plan as another ``borrow and spend to 
pay for billionaires tax cuts.''
  Now, the Wharton School and the Goldman Sachs studies both show that, 
at best, this plan would produce a paltry one-tenth, maybe two-tenths 
of 1 percent growth, but we all know that it will increase the national 
debt by trillions of dollars.
  This is a horrible investment, a horrible return, a negative return 
on investment. It is a terrible process. This is terrible legislation. 
It will produce terrible results for the overwhelming majority of 
Americans, especially the millions who rely on Medicaid and Medicare.
  Now, here is the deal, Mr. Speaker, that you are trying to push: if 
Americans are willing to give billionaires

[[Page H8300]]

windfall tax cuts today and also trade their health security and safety 
net, then you, Mr. Speaker, will give average Americans the empty 
promise of wage growth tomorrow and you will be able to file your taxes 
on a postcard.
  I say ``empty promises'' because studies and our experience have 
shown that this unicorn of wage growth from tax cuts will never, in 
fact, happen. It is reminiscent, Mr. Speaker, of the gluttonous Wimpy 
in the ``Popeye'' cartoon: ``I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a 
hamburger today.''
  Now, this is a great plan if you are rich. It is dollars for fool's 
gold, but the American people are not fools, Mr. Speaker, and that is 
why the Republicans want to rush this through with minimum 
transparency.
  This is madness. Trickle down has not worked, it does not work, and 
it will never work. We have got deficits under Reagan and under George 
W. Bush to prove it.
  The tax cuts will not pay for themselves, Mr. Speaker. The tax cuts 
won't magically produce increased salaries for workers. The tax plan 
will not lead to these claims of economic growth.
  Mr. Speaker, we have all lived long enough to know that these are all 
lies. It is not even wishful thinking anymore, because we know better.
  Congress should not be considering tax cuts for the rich and opening 
up even more tax loopholes. Mr. Speaker, we cannot spin gold out of 
straw, and that is what we have here.
  This plan will make most Americans poorer and sicker, if not dead. I 
urge all my colleagues to reject this bill.
  Instead, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to fortify our election 
system from Russian further interference; build new infrastructure, 
that is what creates jobs; fund the Child Health Insurance Program that 
Republicans let expire; ensure that all 3\1/2\ million American 
citizens in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands can have access to 
water, power, and healthcare this holiday season. That is what we 
should be doing.

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