[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 18]
[Senate]
[Page 24830]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HEALTH CARE WEEK XIII, DAY II

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, sometime in the coming days, the 
Treasury Department will make an announcement that should startle all 
of us. It will announce that in the fiscal year that ended just 2 weeks 
ago, the Federal Government spent $1.4 trillion more than it actually 
had. What this announcement means is that lawmakers in Washington ran 
up a Federal deficit in 2009 greater than the deficits of the last 4 
years combined.
  This is a staggering statistic. It is impossible for most of us to 
imagine sums of money this large, let alone the unprecedented amount of 
money we have borrowed this year alone. But one way to think of it is 
to realize that since January 20 of this year, the Federal Government 
has borrowed $1.2 trillion or more than $10,500 for every household in 
the United States--this year alone: $10,500 for every household in our 
country. Just since last January, the Federal Government, as I 
indicated, has borrowed more than $10,500 for every single household in 
America.
  As you can imagine, there is a limit to how much we can borrow 
without facing serious consequences, such as dramatically higher 
interest rates that will further hamper job creation and massive 
spending cuts and taxes down the road. That is precisely why Congress 
sets a limit on how much debt the government can carry at any one time. 
But the administration has decided to worry about all these things at a 
later date. For now, it wants to continue to borrow and spend, borrow 
and spend, as it has done all year.
  But we are in dangerous territory. As a result of all this borrowing, 
Congress is about to reach the limit on the amount of debt it can 
legally carry. The administration expected this would happen, and that 
is why it recently asked Congress to raise the debt ceiling. Rather 
than cut spending or implement reforms that would reduce costs, the 
administration is proposing we borrow even more to finance its industry 
bailouts and now its health care proposal. What this amounts to is a 
public admission it cannot live within its means.
  Think about the message that sends to American people. At a time when 
millions of Americans are experiencing a financial hangover from 
overusing their own credit cards, the government is still at it. Rather 
than pay down some of the principal, the government is asking the 
credit card company to increase its limit. What does it plan to buy 
with the room it gets on its credit card? More government spending 
programs.
  This is fiscal madness. The primary reason we are in so much trouble 
financially is the fact that we cannot afford our current spending 
patterns. The projected deficit for 2009 is nearly twice as large as 
the previous postwar record from 1983. Yet instead of reforming 
existing programs such as Medicare and Social Security in order to make 
them financially sound and stable, the administration does not want to 
make any hard choices.
  This is one of the reasons the administration has a problem on its 
hands with the American people when it comes to health care. Most of 
the health care bills the administration supports would raise our debt 
by hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet the administration knows 
Americans are concerned about all this spending and debt; otherwise, it 
would not have touted a report last week saying that a conceptual 
version of one of several health care bills being discussed in Congress 
could cut the deficit by $80 billion over 10 years.
  Leaving aside the fact that this particular bill will never see the 
light of day, an important question arises: How can an administration 
that is asking Congress for a $1 trillion increase on its credit card 
limit claim with a straight face to be excited about $80 billion in 
deficit savings? That is like putting a new Mercedes on the government 
credit card and then calling a press conference on frugality because 
the dealer threw in a complimentary cup holder.
  Americans do not buy any of it, and that is why they are 
overwhelmingly opposed to the administration's health care proposals. 
At the outset of this debate, there was one criterion for success: 
Reform would lower the cost of health care. Yet no one--no one--outside 
Washington believes that creating a new $1 trillion entitlement will do 
anything but increase costs and increase debt.
  We are headed down a dangerous road. It is long past time for the 
administration and its allies in Congress to face the hard choices 
Americans have had to face over the past several months: No more 
spending money we do not have on things we do not need; no more debt. 
Real reform will lower costs and debt, not raise both when we can least 
afford it.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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