[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5937-5938]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PRESIDENT OBAMA JOINS THE DEBATE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, President Obama outlined 
what he is describing as a ``responsible'' approach to our Nation's 
fiscal problems. And my initial response to that characterization is 
that, with all due respect, the American people are not inclined to 
take advice on fiscal responsibility from an administration whose 
unprecedented borrowing and spending has done so much to create the 
mess we are in.
  After 2 years of adding trillions to the debt and ignoring our 
Nation's looming fiscal nightmare, the President may be right in 
thinking that the politically expedient thing to do is point the finger 
at others. But the truly responsible thing would be to admit that his 
own 2-year experiment in big government has been a disaster

[[Page 5938]]

for the economy and itself a major driver of our debt; and that his 
inaction on the latter is the primary reason others have been forced to 
step forward and offer meaningful solutions of their own.
  That is what most people already believe anyway. So the President's 
attempt to stake out the high ground in this debate was, I suspect, 
hard for many Americans to swallow.
  Despite the President's imaginative account of how we arrived at the 
situation we are in, the American people are well past the point of 
believing that Washington will be able to make good on all its promises 
if only we let the President and Democrats in Congress raise taxes.
  Americans know that we face a fiscal crisis not because we tax too 
little but because we spend too much. They do not support the reckless 
Washington spending that has left us with record deficits and debt, and 
they will not support raising taxes to preserve an unsustainable status 
quo. Besides, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have already 
rejected the kind of tax hike on small business that President Obama 
endorsed again yesterday. So it was counterproductive of him to revive 
it.
  As for entitlements, the President rightly acknowledged that before 
we know it, the government will spend every dime it takes in just to 
cover the cost of Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the interest 
on our debt. What he did not say is that the health care bill he signed 
last year takes more than half a trillion dollars out of Medicare to 
pay for an entirely new entitlement that could be just as unsustainable 
as Medicare itself; and which forces nearly 20 million more Americans 
into a Medicaid Program which, as currently arranged, is bankrupting 
our States.
  So the President can claim to be a great defender of the social 
safety net. He may claim to stand for a nobler vision of America than 
those who disagree with him. But the facts speak for themselves. And 
when it comes to preserving the social safety net, the President's 
proposals simply do not address the things that have caused our most 
cherished entitlement programs to be unsustainable in the first place.
  Instead, the President would simply tinker around the edges and leave 
the hard work for others, passing the buck to future Presidents. And 
that just won't cut it anymore.
  Americans are paying attention. They know the fiscal problems we face 
will not be solved by continuing the job-destroying policies that got 
us here. What is more, the centerpiece of the President's proposal, tax 
hike on top earners, may sound appealing to those whose primary goal in 
this debate is to protect big government. But looking at the most 
recent data, the Wall Street Journal points out this morning that even 
if we were to lay claim to every taxable dollar of every single 
American who earns more than $100,000 a year, we still wouldn't raise 
enough to cover the $1.6 trillion deficit the President's budget gives 
us this year.
  The best way to bring down the debt and to create the climate that 
will lead to good private-sector jobs and prosperity is not to repeat 
the policies of the past but to change them. And that means cutting 
Washington spending, not squeezing family budgets even more.
  Throughout the day today, Senators will have an opportunity to debate 
a down payment on those cuts for the rest of the current fiscal year. 
So I invite them to come to the floor to discuss that proposal. After 
that, we will move onto an even more far-reaching debate not about 
billions but about trillions. That is the debate that will show 
Americans exactly where their elected representatives stand on facing 
up to the fiscal challenges we face. Republicans look forward to that 
debate.
  That brings me to a final point.
  Yesterday, the President said that the debate we have been having in 
Washington about the size and scope of government is not about numbers 
on a page. It is about the kind of country we believe in. But he left 
out an important point. And that is, that there are a great many people 
in Washington and beyond who agree with him, but who also believe in 
their core that the approach he has taken over the past 2 years 
represents the greatest single threat to the very future he envisions. 
America will not continue to be the great Nation it is unless we are 
able to keep our promises to the current and future generations, and 
stop spending money we do not have. But the greatest obstacle to that 
future is not the everyday American who wants Washington to balance its 
checkbook, or those who look at where the President's policies have 
gotten us and map out a different path to the future than he would. The 
greatest obstacle we face is the crushing burden of our debt, as the 
President now admits.
  Unfortunately, the plan he outlined yesterday does not seriously 
address it. Americans know the stakes in this debate. They know the 
reason we are in this situation. It is time the President and Democrats 
in Congress acknowledge it as well. The debate has shifted. And while 
the President does not seem to see that yet, we will not solve our 
problems until he stops campaigning and joins us in a serious, 
bipartisan effort to change not only his tone but his direction. That 
is how we will ensure that the future that he--and we--envision and 
want actually comes about. That is the only chance we have.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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