[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 588-589]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. KYL. Mr. President, it is time for the people of the U.S. 
Congress to be sure we are listening to what our constituents, the 
American people, are telling us. If it was unclear before, the 
Massachusetts Senate race should put to rest any doubts about what is 
really frustrating Americans. Americans have had it with the soaring 
level of spending and debt. They know that enormous spending and 
skyrocketing deficits take a bite out of the economy, dragging down our 
gross domestic product, our standard of living, and making investors 
and job creators very nervous. They are concerned about the 
unfathomable amounts of money now being spent.
  For the first year of the Obama administration, the numbers are eye-
popping. Consider, one, a wasteful $1.2 trillion stimulus that was a 
failure, according to the administration's own yardstick; two, a $410 
billion omnibus Federal spending bill that increased nondefense 
spending by 10 percent; three, a $2.5 trillion government takeover of 
health care that this Senate passed on Christmas Eve. Hopefully, this 
will never actually become law. We have had two huge increases in the 
debt ceiling, with a third being debated now, and a massive budget that 
doubles the deficit in 5 years and triples it in 10. It is not 
necessary. It is not inevitable. We can and should prevent it. 
Remember, we have to borrow most of this money. Americans are very 
concerned about the amount of money we are borrowing from other nations 
such as China to help finance the exploding debt.
  The administration and its defenders are still blaming President Bush 
for out-of-control deficits and debt, even though the other party has 
been in control of the Congress now for 3 years and the President has 
been out of office for over a year. Here are some important facts. 
President Bush's deficits ran an average of 3.2 percent of GDP, while 
President Obama's spending plans call for deficits that will average 
4.2 percent of GDP over the next decade--in other words, an entire 
percentage point higher. From the day President Obama took office until 
the last day of fiscal year 2010, debt held by the public will grow by 
$2.3 trillion, according to the Office of Management and Budget. You 
can't blame that on President Bush. President Bush added less than 
that--about $3 trillion--to the debt during the entire 8 years he was 
in office. So in just 20 months, President Obama will add as much debt 
as President Bush ran up in 8 years.
  This administration needs to take responsibility for its actions, 
start listening to what Americans are saying, and stop talking about 
the mess they inherited. Americans want Congress and the administration 
to stop their grand spending plans and focus on what is really needed 
for an economic recovery.
  December saw another 85,000 jobs lost. Unemployment has not gone 
down; it is holding steady at about 10 percent. In my State, it is over 
11 percent.
  Mort Zuckerman wrote Friday in the Wall Street Journal:

       The problem in the job market going forward is not so much 
     layoffs in the private sector, which are abating, but a lack 
     of hiring.

  That brings me to concerns over tax policy. Americans look ahead and 
they see new taxes on the horizon. Unless Congress takes action this 
year, taxes are set to go up by $2 trillion over the next decade, 
starting in 2011. The child tax credit would be cut in half. Marginal 
tax rates will go up. Dividends and capital gains taxes will increase. 
It is no wonder that businesses are timid about hiring and investing 
and consumers are more cautious than ever about their own spending. 
Even if economists say we are technically out of the recession, dollars 
have not begun to flow because people and businesses are uncertain 
about what their burden will be in the coming years. They are very 
nervous that it will be higher.
  We can eliminate some of that uncertainty and instill some much 
needed confidence in the economy by extending current tax law. Again, 
unless Congress acts, taxes will increase automatically. If the 
President is looking for a job stimulator, I suggest this is where to 
start. If he were to announce on Wednesday night that he is calling on 
Congress to keep taxes right where they are--in fact, if we can cut 
them in some areas, that would be even better--I think he would see 
businesses react immediately and positively to

[[Page 589]]

the news. But instead of increasing taxes, we need, as Zuckerman says, 
to draw up credible plans to bring down bloated deficits without 
triggering another downturn.
  Let's keep something in mind about the American people: They know you 
can't spend what you don't have. The message this Congress and the 
administration have been sending to Americans is that even though they 
are bound by limits, Washington is not. As I said, it is time to start 
listening to our constituents and then act on their instructions. Stop 
spending, keep taxes where they are, reduce them where we can, and stop 
running up deficits.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Montana.

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