[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Page 3572]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              BUDGET WEEK

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last week our friends on the other side 
pulled back the curtain on their budget proposal, and taxpayers all 
across America groaned. It really was not very pretty. The Democrats 
propose to increase discretionary spending above the $1 trillion mark 
for the first time ever. To pay for it, they want to increase taxes by 
a lot--the largest tax hike in history.
  The timing, of course, could not be worse. At a time when Americans 
are seeing record gas prices, falling home values, and higher health 
care and tuition costs, the other side sees higher taxes and more 
spending. Rather than offer a plan to address the concerns of the day, 
they offer a plan to make those costs harder to meet inside the limits 
of a family budget. At a time of heightened economic worry, our 
friends' plan for America is for families to keep less of their money 
and they insist that Government spend more.
  The effect of all this on U.S. families would be crushing. Under the 
Democratic budget, the average American family would see their annual 
tax bill go up by $2,300 a year. Nearly 20 million seniors would see 
their taxes go up by more than $2,000 a year. And 8 million low-income 
workers would be added to the tax roles.
  At a time of increased economic concern, Democrats want the average 
American family to have $2,300 less for the family budget under their 
plan. That is enough money to pay for an entire year's worth of gas for 
two cars. It is about what the average American family with two kids 
spends on health care in 9 months. It is also enough to buy 8 months' 
worth of groceries.
  The average American family would suffer a lot under this plan. 
Consider a family in Kentucky that is just starting to think about 
college for a new baby. If that family took the $2,300 Democrats are 
asking for in new taxes and invested it each year in a tax-free college 
savings account, they would have nearly $75,000 for college by the time 
that child was ready to attend school.
  This budget is not the answer Americans have been looking for. It is 
a cliche. When faced with a challenge, Democrats always answer with a 
simple three-word response: tax and spend. And this year is certainly 
no different.
  American families and their children are the ones who will lose out 
under this tax-and-spend plan. Democrats promise to pay for everything 
but make families pay instead. They promised middle-class tax relief 
last year but did nothing to enact it. They promise to reduce the debt 
but increase it instead. And they promise to address long-term 
entitlement spending but only make the problem worse with higher taxes 
and more spending.
  Over the last 25 years, Republican economic policies have lifted tens 
of millions of working families into the middle class. We did it 
through lower taxes, controlled spending, and keeping our defenses 
strong. Democrats know these policies worked. That is why, as we began 
this Congress, many Democrats assured voters they would not raise taxes 
on working-class and middle-class voters. Well, this budget certainly 
fell short of that mark.
  The proposed tax hike the Democrats sent down last week is four times 
bigger than the one in 1993 that even President Clinton said was too 
big for Americans and, ultimately, even for him. How can Democrats 
think the American people will accept this one? Do they think Americans 
want to see the gains of the last 6 years washed away by a budget that 
reinstates every tax we have lowered or repealed over that period?
  Budget week is always a clarifying time of year on Capitol Hill. What 
the other side's budget makes clear once again is that our friends on 
the other side are more concerned about growing the size and scope of 
Washington spending, while we want to grow the family's budget. At a 
time of great economic uncertainty, Americans expect more from 
Government than a $1.2 trillion tax hike and billions of dollars in new 
spending.
  This budget spends more than $775 billion from the Social Security 
surplus. It increases gross debt by more than $2 trillion. It increases 
the deficit by almost $400 billion. And it completely ignores the 
question of where we are going to get the money to pay for $66 trillion 
in promised entitlements--this despite the fact that the Democratic 
chairman of the Budget Committee has explicitly said we need to reform 
entitlement programs.
  Republicans made a pledge last year to fight tax increases and to 
rein in spending. We stuck by that pledge last year. In these difficult 
economic times, we will certainly stick by it this year. With this 
budget, Democrats want to spend more from Washington and raise your 
taxes to pay for it. I, for one, will vote to allow families to keep 
more of what they earn so they can decide how to spend it.

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