[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 21, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3018]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               INFLATION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, a little more than 2 years ago, with 
Republican policies in place, American workers and families were 
enjoying one of the best economic moments in a generation.
  Unemployment was at a 50-year low. Inflation was very low at the same 
time. Our economy was growing robustly, and workers were reaping the 
benefits: Real wages were climbing. In fact, wages at the bottom of the 
income distribution were growing faster than that at the top. In other 
words, on our watch, working-class Americans were getting bigger 
percentage raises than their bosses.
  Under these conditions, the American people were looking forward to 
the future. Satisfaction with the direction of our country was at a 15-
year high. Consumer confidence was hovering near its highest level 
since 2000, and small business optimism had set an alltime record high.
  Republican policies helped create that environment, from cutting 
redtape to passing the most comprehensive tax cuts and tax reform in a 
generation.
  Now, Democrats said the 2017 tax bill would not strengthen the 
economy and would starve the Federal Government of money, but we 
Republicans knew better. And sure enough, with our tax bill in place, 
Federal revenues are at historic levels. The past fiscal year's nominal 
corporate tax receipts were the highest they have been since 2007. 
Individual income tax receipts just hit an alltime record high as well, 
and they are on pace to climb even higher this year. Overall, Treasury 
Department revenues just recorded their largest 1-year surge in 44 
years.
  So that is what has happened since the 2017 tax reform that Democrats 
literally predicted would be ``Armageddon": tax cuts for American 
families, record-setting tax revenues, and the best economy for working 
families in a generation prior to the pandemic. Unfortunately, most of 
our Democratic colleagues have a terrible track record when it comes to 
economic policies and predictions. The tax reform they called 
Armageddon preceded low inflation, high employment, and robust growth.
  And what about on their watch?
  Democrats setting policy on party lines decided on trillions of 
dollars in reckless spending. That has bought us the worst inflation in 
40 years, anemic growth, and now, on top of all of that, the threat of 
rising unemployment and a possible recession.
  Just as Senate Democrats were preparing to dump $2 trillion in 
reckless spending on our economy, the Senate Democratic leader said:

       I do not think the dangers of inflation, at least in the 
     near term, are very real.

  President Biden said:

       The risk is not doing too much. The risk is not doing 
     enough.

  Secretary Yellen said:

       [T]he price of doing too little is much higher than the 
     price of doing something big.

  Well, they were all wrong, and American families are paying dearly 
for it.
  The Democratic leader claimed:

       The dangers of undershooting our response are far greater 
     than overshooting.

  And:

       We cannot do too little. We cannot lock our country into a 
     long and slow recovery.

  Well, if Democrats did not want a long recovery, mission 
accomplished. A long and steady recovery with stable prices, rising 
real wages, falling unemployment, and strong growth would have been 
exactly what the doctor ordered, but the Democrats' policies helped 
take that option entirely off the table for our country.
  Instead, their decisions have fueled skyrocketing prices, a decline 
in Americans' real incomes, and cornered the Federal Reserve into 
having to raise rates sharply and potentially stop or reverse the 
recovery altogether.
  So, faced with this mess, what is our all-Democratic government 
planning next? Are our colleagues admitting their mistakes and trimming 
back their appetites?
  Unfortunately, not--just the opposite.
  Even now, with the evidence of a historic, self-inflicted policy 
disaster piling up all around them, Democrats are reviving talks for 
yet another party-line taxing-and-spending spree this summer. Even with 
the economy teetering on the brink of a recession, even with families' 
real incomes already falling rapidly on their watch, Senate Democrats 
are reportedly behind closed doors, dreaming up--listen to this--
historic new tax hikes to drop on top of our economy at the very worst 
possible time.
  The same Democrats who wanted to pass trillions more in spending last 
year now want to rush through huge new tax hikes. The same party that 
spent 2021 trying to inflate their way out of inflation now wants to 
spend 2022 tax-hiking their way right into a recession. You could not 
invent--could not invent--a worse time for Washington Democrats to pile 
on new tax hikes on our country.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Durbin). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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