[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 13]
[House]
[Pages 17867-17868]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1440
                         TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I am returning to a subject that I began 
yesterday. This is the second episode of what the rich are going to do 
with all those tax cuts that the Republicans want to give to them 
through extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich in lieu of the Obama 
tax cuts for the middle class.
  As I said yesterday with regard to the 1 percent top income group in 
this country, the high and mighty who earn more than $1.3 million a 
year in taxable income, according to the Republican plan each one of 
them will receive a tax cut, every single year, of $83,347 each year.
  I have given a lot of thought to what they are going do with that 
money. I made some suggestions yesterday, and here are some more 
suggestions about what they could possibly do with this windfall that 
the Republicans want to hand to them at a time when this country has 
9.5 percent unemployment, 40 million people who cannot see a doctor 
when they are sick, and so many people who are in danger of losing 
their homes.
  For instance, the rich, the idle rich, the high and mighty, the 
ruling class, they can buy three tickets to the most expensive suite at 
the Super Bowl. That costs only $75,000. They will have $12,000 left 
over in pocket change.
  Here is something else that they might do with the windfall that the 
Republicans want to give them. They can go to the top of Mount Everest. 
That costs only $65,000, a luxury climb to the top of Mount Everest, 
with somebody holding your bag for you the whole way up. Just one 
thing: Make sure you don't fall down.
  Here is something else that they can do with the Republican tax plan 
to give $87,000 a year to the rich. They can take a beautiful 110-day 
cruise around the world. That costs only $80,000. And it is up to them 
what they do with the other 250 days a year, but think about that. 
Think about people in the middle class who struggle, save for vacation 
year after year, and sometimes occasionally get to go on a 3- or 4- or 
even a 5-day cruise. With the Republican tax cut for the rich, the 
millionaires can go on a 110-day luxury cruise, not just 1 year, but 
every single year.
  Here is something else that they can do. They can enjoy two nights at 
the Hugh Hefner SkyVilla at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. That 
costs only $80,000. They will have $7,000 left over for tipping the 
bellman. And remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
  As I pointed out yesterday, the Republicans want to stuff so much 
money into the pockets of rich people in this country, the 
millionaires, the people who make an average of $1.3 million a year, 
that every single one of them, every single one of them every year for 
the next 10 years will be able to enjoy a luxury cigar in the morning 
and a luxury cigar in the evening as well, and they can light each one 
of those cigars with a $100 bill.
  Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not sure that that's the best 
use of $100 billion a year of tax money. I have some other ideas about 
what I would like to see happen. I would like to see jobs, jobs, and 
more jobs.
  If you do the arithmetic, you will find that the $100 billion a year 
that the Republicans want to hand over to the rich so that they can 
further comfort the comfortable, that could be used instead to provide 
a decent job, a job with a living wage, a decent day's pay for a decent 
day's work to 3 million Americans, and, in a single stroke, could 
reduce unemployment in this country from 9 percent to 7 percent; but, 
more importantly, take that $100 billion and make sure it actually 
circulates in the economy. Because what will the rich do with it? 
They'll keep it in their pockets; or they'll send it abroad buying 
luxury goods like we discussed yesterday, or they'll take a cruise 
around the world that adds nothing to the American economy. But if

[[Page 17868]]

you actually did take that money and you created 3 million jobs at 
$30,000 a year for the American people, then you would see our economy 
revive overnight.
  When it comes down to my vote for tax cuts for the rich versus jobs, 
I'm going to vote for jobs.

                          ____________________