[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 216 (Wednesday, December 15, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9185-S9186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              The Economy

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor today to talk 
about our Nation's economy.
  We have come to the end of another calendar year. The American people 
are asking themselves a simple question: Are we better off now, today, 
than we were 1 year ago?
  For most Americans, the answer is no. In fact, a new survey from the 
New York Federal Reserve says just that. Most of the people surveyed 
say they are worse off now than they were 1 year ago.
  Most also said, very concerning, that they expect to be worse off a 
year from now than they are today, and it is easy to see why. Shelves 
are empty, we have the worst labor shortage ever recorded, and prices 
are rising at the fastest rate in 40 years.
  Joe Biden is breaking records, but not the good kind. Joe Biden is 
about to enter his second year in office with record-high inflation and 
record-low approval.

  Since Joe Biden took office, prices have gone up much faster than 
wages. As a result, the typical American family can purchase less today 
than they could a year ago. People have had to change the way they 
drive, they shop, and they eat.
  By one estimate, families are paying $175 more every month because of 
inflation since Joe Biden took office. This works out to be $2,000 a 
year--a bite out of the paychecks of the American people equivalent to 
a loss of $2,000.
  Now, some estimates are even higher. Harvard Professor Jason Furman 
was a

[[Page S9186]]

top adviser to President Obama. His estimate is that it is double that 
number. He said there have been $4,000 more in expenses for the 
American families this year than there was last year.
  Of course, the biggest increase that we see is in energy. Gas prices 
are up. They are up by more than a dollar a gallon. Now, this is just 
in the 10 months since Joe Biden took office. It costs $20 to $30 more 
to fill the tank. Today, they are at a 7-year high.
  Natural gas prices are also at a 7-year high, while half the families 
in America heat their homes with natural gas. One in five American 
families has already been cutting expenses in other places to pay for 
their energy bill for the year.
  Last month was the biggest jump in energy prices, amazingly, in an 
entire decade, and winter is almost here. Some people may have to 
choose between whether they can afford to eat or whether they can 
afford to heat their homes.
  It is hard to believe that in just 10 full months in the White House, 
Joe Biden could have taken inflation to this very high level.
  The supply chain crisis, the worker shortage, the inflation crisis 
are all the direct results of the policies of the Biden administration 
and the Democrats in Washington.
  Why are the shelves empty? Well, because we don't have enough 
workers. More than 11 million jobs today are unfilled. We have broken 
new records for unfilled jobs in 5 of the first 10 months that Joe 
Biden has been in office. And no matter where you go, there are ``help 
wanted'' signs in the windows.
  This is no coincidence. In March, President Biden extended a bonus 
payment to people who stayed home from work. Millions of people made 
more money by not going to work than they would by going to work. Well, 
in September, that bonus payment ran out.
  Then Joe Biden announced a nationwide vaccine mandate on the American 
people. This mandate took a sledge hammer to our Nation's workforce. 
The President must have known that people would lose their jobs. It 
seems he didn't care because he imposed the mandate anyway.
  These are people who worked every day during the pandemic, showing up 
no matter the weather, no matter the situation. They showed up to do 
the job to help the people in their communities and in their States and 
in this country.
  Now, under Joe Biden, people are losing their jobs, shelves are 
empty, prices continue to rise.
  In March, Democrats made things worse by putting $2 trillion on the 
Nation's credit card. That bill sent inflation into overdrive.
  The San Francisco Federal Reserve says the Democrats' spending 
increased inflation.
  Democrats made lavish promises about their last spending bill. They 
said the bill would create millions of jobs. Nancy Pelosi said 4 
million jobs. Joe Biden upped the ante and said 7 million new jobs.
  How did the predictions turn out? Not so well for the predictions of 
Nancy Pelosi or Joe Biden. Joe Biden was off by the full 7 million 
jobs.
  The most recent jobs report shows we created fewer jobs than were 
predicted even without the Democrats' spending bill. Those 7 million 
jobs Joe promised are nowhere to be found.
  Last month, we created less than half the number of jobs the experts 
predicted.
  Now Democrats want to do the same thing all over again. They want 
another multitrillion-dollar spending spree. This spending spree would 
cause the largest tax increase in half a century, trillions more in 
debt, and even higher prices.
  Speaking of rising prices, the price of this spending bill keeps 
going up. For months, Democrats claimed that they wouldn't add to the 
debt. Then they said the total bill would cost less than $2 trillion.
  Last Friday, we found out the real price tag. The Congressional 
Budget Office took all the accounting gimmicks, the budgets tricks--
took it all out of the bill--and they told us that the real cost of the 
bill is nearly triple the price that the Democrats said.
  The real pricetag is close to $5 trillion. It would be the largest 
spending bill in history. The Democrats' spending spree would add $3 
trillion to the national debt.
  And, just yesterday, the Democrats voted--every Democrat voted--to 
raise the debt ceiling in the United States by $2.5 trillion. Every 
Republican voted against it.
  If you think about how much money this is, it is almost the size of 
the entire economy of the United Kingdom.
  You know, all of this spending would bring the Democrats' total to $5 
trillion in new debt in just 10 months.
  And what does all of this spending get you?
  Well, the most expensive thing in the bill is something that some 
refer to as the Green New Deal, which is billions of dollars in new 
taxes on America's natural gas production. It includes an army of 
climate activists paid to protest American energy projects.
  The second most expensive part of the bill is the blue State 
billionaire bailout. It is a tax break for people in high-tax States. I 
look at it as specifically California, Illinois, New York, and New 
Jersey. The vast majority of Americans would get no tax break at all. 
Almost all of that benefit would go to the wealthy.
  Don't take my word for it. Here is what the Democrat chairman of the 
Budget Committee, the junior Senator from Vermont, had to say about it.
  He said:

       The last thing we should be doing is giving more tax breaks 
     to the very rich. It sends a terrible, terrible message.

  But that is what the Democrats in the House under Nancy Pelosi passed 
and sent to the Senate for consideration and passage.
  The junior Senator from Vermont, the chairman of the Budget 
Committee, also said: ``The hypocrisy is too strong.''
  Well, the chairman is absolutely right. Even by the standards of 
Democrats in Washington, this hypocrisy is too strong.
  If Democrats pass this bill, it will mean tax cuts for billionaires 
and tax audits for working families. It will mean higher taxes, more 
debt, higher prices, the highest inflation in 40 years, and it will go 
even higher.
  When the American people ask themselves, ``Are we better off today 
than we were a year ago?'' we know what the answer is going to be: a 
resounding no. If Democrats pass this bill, it will be no for years and 
years to come.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  (Ms. SMITH assumed the Chair.)
  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Hickenlooper). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.