[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[House]
[Page 16992]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS

  (Mr. COHEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I have been home for a while during the break 
and during these 3 weeks listening to constituents; and I understand 
there are a lot of constituents that are upset because the economy 
hasn't come back completely. But the economy is getting better, and a 
great indicator of that is the Dow Jones average which has gone up in 
the 10,800 range now. It has gone up tremendously this month.
  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, called the stimulus bill, 
has been maligned. But it has been responsible for at least 3 million 
jobs: firemen, policemen and teachers being kept on public payrolls and 
keeping taxes down and public employees hired.
  The middle class has been threatened and threatened greatly. And as I 
sit in committee meetings and think about the future and what would 
happen if this House turned over to the other side, I realize the 
middle class would be greatly hurt. It is the middle class that is 
hurting. It is the middle that is concerned.
  The middle class is most of the tea party, but the tea party is being 
led by some of the richest people in the country who are more concerned 
about the estate tax and getting 100 percent of their money sent to the 
next generation tax free, contributing greatly to the deficit, and to 
seeing that the upper 2 percent get their tax cuts given during the 
Bush years, which means a $700 billion addition to the deficit.
  They talk deficit, and they also talk about taxes and spending. Well, 
you can't have it both ways. The bottom line is the richest people of 
the country are pushing the middle class in a direction that will run 
them off a cliff. And their home is with the Democratic Party that is 
helping small business and providing jobs.

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