[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 10118-10119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        BUDGET CONFERENCE REPORT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, let me say to my good friend, the 
majority leader, we would be happy to work out a process by which we 
could have the debate on the budget today. We would even be prepared to 
have the vote on the budget today, but I understand that is 
problematic.
  Mr. REID. I think we could probably do that.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Well, that is something we could probably work toward, 
yes.
  Mr. President, with regard to the budget, we have our differences in 
the Senate, but there are a few ideas that have wide bipartisan 
agreement. One is we need to rein in Federal spending, and another is 
we need to do our part to ensure that middle-class families keep more 
of the money they earn.
  But the Democrats' latest budget shows we have a very different view 
of what these ideas mean. Our friends on the other side said they 
wanted to raise

[[Page 10119]]

taxes on the rich and keep taxes low for working families. But this 
budget would provide for the average family a tax hike of $2,300 on 
people earning as little as $31,000 a year and couples making $63,000 a 
year. For a little perspective, first year schoolteachers in my 
hometown earn $35,982, and I do not think they consider themselves 
rich.
  With rising gas prices and economic concerns, middle-class families 
are tightening their belts. Yet this budget would take more money out 
of the paychecks of these families to fill the Government's coffers. At 
a time when all Americans are watching their spending, shouldn't 
Washington be doing the same?
  Not according to this budget, which does nothing to address 
entitlement spending and sets a new record--a new record--for 
nonemergency spending, topping the $1 trillion mark for the first time 
in American history. That is not a record I think we should be 
welcoming.
  So I am a little confused as to why this budget is at odds with the 
Democrats' promise of keeping taxes low for working families and 
putting a stop to wasteful Washington spending.
  It seems to me, if Congress was serious about letting Americans keep 
more of the money they earn, we would make tax relief permanent. If we 
were serious about reining in spending, we would pass a budget that 
calls for responsible growth. Instead, we are on the verge of passing a 
budget that goes in the opposite direction, contains the largest tax 
hike in U.S. history, and sets a new record for spending.
  American families cannot afford this budget, American job creators 
cannot afford this budget, and our economy cannot afford this budget. I 
urge all of our colleagues to protect the American family's budget by 
voting against this budget when we have an opportunity to do that.
  I yield the floor.

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