[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18855-18857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          STATE OF THE ECONOMY

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise at this moment to speak to the 
state of the economy and to call to the attention of the Senate what 
has transpired in America in the 2 weeks since the majority leader, 
Senator Daschle, brought to the attention of this country how sadly our 
economy is performing.
  Earlier I came to the floor and one of my Republican colleagues came 
to the floor and greeted me and said: Durbin, you have it all wrong. 
The economy is better. Can't you feel it? The economy is much better. I 
have the facts to prove it.
  I am anxious to see his presentation, and I am anxious to see how 
many people across America would agree with him because let me tell you 
what has happened in news reports in the last 2 weeks. These are news 
reports.
  First, our stock market has had its worst quarter since 1987--15 
years. It is the worst month of September in the stock market since 
1937, 65 years ago. It has also been reported that the number of 
Americans without health insurance increased by 1.4 million last year, 
to 41.2 million.
  The trend line, which had been moving in the opposite direction with 
more people having health insurance, is moving in the wrong direction 
now--fewer and fewer Americans with the protection of health insurance. 
May I add for a moment, have you asked anybody about the cost of health 
insurance lately? Small businesses, large businesses, labor unions, 
workers alike, the cost of health insurance is breaking the bank at 
businesses across America. It is breaking the bank when it comes to 
labor unions that try to take care of their retirees. It is something 
that has not been addressed by this Congress or this President.
  The poverty rate rose last year for the first time in 10 years, from 
11.3 percent to 11.7 percent. The prosperity of

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the previous administration has finally run out. More and more people 
are falling into poverty.
  Real median household income fell last year by $934. The spending 
power of American families in real terms dropped by over $900. That is 
the first drop in 9 years.
  Housing starts fell 2.2 percent in August. Unemployment insurance 
claims remain high, the 4-week average stays above 400,000, and the 
U.S. manufacturing jobs shrank in September for the first time since 
January.
  My colleague on the Republican side says I just don't get it; things 
are really getting better out there. I don't think they are. I think, 
frankly, we are not yet into recovery. When I talk to people who are 
leaders in business and keep an eye on the economy, they don't think we 
are either. They look at numbers and the numbers are pretty compelling.
  Take a look at this economic report. This is the average annual 
percentage change in the Standard & Poor's 500. We went all the way 
back to the Harding administration--Warren G. Harding, the former 
President--to see what had happened in the stock market. Here is what 
we learned.
  There has only been one other time in history when we have seen such 
a dramatic, precipitous decline in the value of the stock market. 
Sadly, that was during the Great Depression under Herbert Hoover when 
the stock market declined some 30 percent. We are talking about the S&P 
500 declining 30 percent in value. Under President Bush's current 
administration that same percentage has gone down 21 percent. I don't 
have to tell that to anybody listening to this speech because more than 
half of Americans own some stocks, whether it is their personal savings 
or college savings accounts for their kids or grandkids or their 
pension plans. They know what has happened here. The nest egg you put 
aside and counted on for the future has been diminishing over the last 
year and a half. The economy is not strong. Yet you wouldn't believe it 
when you listen to the comments that are made.
  Here is a comment from the President, September 5, just a few weeks 
ago.

       I'm optimistic about our economy. I'm optimistic about job 
     growth.

  That is the President. Vice President Cheney, on August 7:

       . . . there is no doubt of our nation's (economic) 
     strength.

  Paul O'Neill, Secretary of the Treasury, September 25, just a few 
days ago:

       The latest indicators look good.

  That is our Secretary of the Treasury. What is he reading? Who is he 
listening to? This is a man who is supposed to be charting the course 
of economic policy in our country and he thinks things are looking 
good, a chicken in every pot. I don't think so.
  Take a look at the economic record of this administration. We went 
back to President Eisenhower to take a look at the annual growth rate 
of private sector jobs. Incidentally, the President said he is 
optimistic about job growth. Look at job growth under this 
administration. Every single President has had positive job growth in 
the private sector except one, President George W. Bush. He is 
optimistic. Well, he may be optimistic about the future, but a 
realistic view of his administration is it has been disastrous. We have 
lost jobs across America and people know this. They understand the 
uncertainty they face.
  Take a look as well at the average rate of change in the real gross 
domestic product. This is the sum total of the value of goods and 
services produced in America. We went back to President Eisenhower. 
Every year you see a pretty substantial growth but one--look at this. 
Under President George W. Bush we have the lowest economic growth in 50 
years in America. The President has said, ``I'm optimistic about the 
economy.'' But look at the economy. It is weak. It is an economy that 
has taken its toll on workers and families and businesses and on the 
savings of retirees.
  Take a look at these jobs we have lost. More than 2 million jobs have 
been lost under the Bush administration. We have had 111.7 million 
private sector jobs when the President took office. Today we are down 
to 109.6 million. In the words of Secretary of the Treasury Paul 
O'Neill, ``The latest indicators look good.'' I don't see it. It 
doesn't look good for 2 million people who have lost their jobs since 
this President took office.
  Now take a look at what has happened when it comes to Government 
spending. The debt held by the public--I am almost afraid to bring up 
the issue of national debt and deficit with Senator Hollings on the 
floor. This is his passion. But he knows as well as I do, the debt held 
by the public in 2008 had been projected, when the President took 
office, at $36 billion. That projection has gone from $36 billion to 
now $3.8 trillion. We are swimming in this red ink under this 
administration. It wasn't the case when he came to office.
  This has all transpired under this President and his watch. What does 
it mean in terms of our Federal interest costs? Look at this. When the 
President came to office, they estimated the total Federal net interest 
spending for 10 years would be $620 billion. That is when President 
Bush took office. Today the estimate is up to $1.9 trillion--interest 
paid on national debt created by deficits with which we are presently 
living.
  We left an administration that was in surplus. We left an 
administration that was paying down the national debt. We are now in an 
administration adding to the national debt, creating deficits, causing 
problems across our economy.
  The reason? You can look at the recession which continues. You can 
certainly look to the war on terrorism, which has cost us dearly. None 
of us will shortchange the men and women who are fighting for our 
Nation, and that is going to cause some spending which will come out of 
the Social Security trust fund. But there is a third element. The third 
element was President Bush's tax policy. He came forward and said to 
America: With this fantastic surplus that I can see for 10 straight 
years, it is time to give the money back to the American people. So the 
average family got the $300 check or the $600 check and said: That is 
fine. I will find something to do with that.
  But the net result of all of it is we are in a situation now where we 
are dealing with debt and deficit which we did not anticipate. The 
guesses and forecasts and speculation of President Bush's best advisers 
were just plain wrong. The surplus that was projected for 10 years has 
disappeared. It is totally gone. We were not prudent. We were not 
cautious. We were not careful. We put in tax cuts that will be in place 
for 10 years and we cannot pay for them and we are going in debt. No, 
let me take it back. We are taking money out of the Social Security 
trust fund to pay for it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 10 minutes.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent for 5 additional minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DURBIN. The point we are making is that we are dealing with a tax 
cut that frankly has brought us back down into a deficit situation and 
increased our national debt and increased the interest on which future 
generations will pay. That tax cut, when you look at benefits of it--
take a look. If you happen to be down making $9,300 a year, the 
President's tax cut is worth $66.
  Average annual tax cut by income range: If you are making $20,000 a 
year, it is worth $375. If you are up to $39,000 a year, it is $600. If 
you are making $56,000 a year, it is $1,000. If you are making $97,000 
a year, it is about $2,200. If you are making $220,000, it is worth 
$3,000 to you. But hold on tight. If you are in the top 1 percent of 
wage earners in America making an average of $1.1 million a year, the 
President's tax cut is worth $53,000. It is small change down here for 
most working families. But it is $53,000 for people who are already 
making $1 million a year.
  You say, of course; they pay all the taxes; they should get the tax 
break. That isn't how it works. Under the President's plan, it doesn't 
directly track the taxes we are paying. So the people who are getting 
the biggest tax cut are not proportionately paying the

[[Page 18857]]

most in terms of taxes to the Federal Government.
  The Bush economic record and what it means to you is, in effect, a 
10-year surplus has disappeared from $5.6 trillion, which was projected 
by the President just last year. Now we are down into a deficit 
situation over the same 10-year period of time.
  I mentioned earlier the impact of the stock market. Everybody, I 
think, knows this. You see what is happening to our stock market. The 
value of all the stocks in the stock market when the President took 
office was $16.4 trillion. The value today is $11.9 trillion, and going 
down. We have lost $4.5 trillion in value--about 25 percent of the 
value of the stock market. Forget about the value of the stock market. 
It is the value of savings, the value of pension plans, and the value 
of college savings accounts. Those are the things that have taken a 
beating.
  I think the point is clear. This administration wants to talk about 
every issue they can think of except economic security, except the 
state of the economy, and except the fact that average families, 
average businesses, and average individuals in this country are 
struggling with an economy that is flat on its back.
  The best the President had to offer was a meeting in August down in 
Texas where he called some close friends and corporate leaders and 
asked, What do you think? A lot of them said, Stay the course; couldn't 
be doing better.
  We can do a lot better. We can do better with leadership--not just 
from the White House, but from Congress. Sadly, this Congress will not 
produce legislation that will address these problems. What could we do? 
We believe on this side the first thing we ought to do is extend 
unemployment insurance benefits to the people across America who are 
about to run out of unemployment insurance. We should extend the 
benefits for another 13 to 26 weeks. We did that five times under 
President Bush's father, the last time we had a recession. This 
President has refused to do it one time. That is not fair to these 
people or their families.
  Second, we believe we need pension protection for families across 
America who are vulnerable; for people who are 62 years old and wanting 
to take their retirement, and watched their pension disappear before 
their eyes, and no health care. We need protection for those employees 
who are in that circumstance.
  What about the millions of Americans on minimum wage? It has been 5 
years since we raised the minimum wage. It is stuck at $5.15 an hour. 
That is not going to make America stronger.
  Let me also tell you when it comes to the cost of health, we should 
understand it is absolutely essential that we accept this as a highest 
priority. We heard this morning from a major union working with a major 
company. The people who ran the company came before them and said, 
Listen, we don't know what we are going to do next year. We have a $1 
billion health insurance bill. We don't know how we are going to do it.
  I have heard the same thing from labor unions and small businesses. 
This government ignores it.
  We talk about tax cuts for the wealthiest instead of tax credits for 
businesses that offer health insurance. We talk about tax cuts for the 
wealthiest instead of helping average families struggling to pay to get 
their kids through college. Why in the world don't we make the cost of 
college tax-deductible for working families before we award these great 
tax breaks for families making over $1 million a year?
  This is the agenda Americans face every day. After they turn off the 
news, they talk about a variety of other issues. They sit down and try 
to figure out how to grapple with these issues. I think this is the 
agenda which the American people want this Congress to work on. Sadly, 
because of lack of leadership downtown, and because of lack of 
leadership here on the Hill, we have done precious little to address 
the real issues facing American families.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

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