[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11592]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CUT, CAP, AND BALANCE

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the Senate will begin debate today on 
cut, cap, and balance, the plan approved earlier this week in the 
House. This means Senators will now have the opportunity to go on 
record either in support of balancing our books or against it.
  This is an opportunity for everyone to take a stand. It is an 
opportunity to say that a government which borrows more than 40 cents 
of every $1 it spends is not sustainable and very much needs to change 
its ways. It is an opportunity to stand with those who believe 
Washington needs to heal its addiction to spending now, not make more 
false promises of spending restraint sometime later.
  The President's veto threat of this legislation is telling. Many of 
us learned a long time ago to pay more attention to what this President 
does than what he says. Anyone who has witnessed his reckless spending 
habits over the past 2\1/2\ years or sat across the negotiating table 
with him over the past few weeks could be forgiven for being skeptical 
of his recent attempts to come across as a fiscal moderate.
  I will just say this: There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that 
this President is as deeply committed to a government we cannot afford 
as he was on Inauguration Day.
  That is why we have decided to bring our case directly to the 
American people with the cut, cap, and balance plan, which forces 
Washington to get its fiscal house in order with a constitutional 
amendment.
  It is nice that some people are hoping the President has had a change 
of heart, but no one should be planning on it. Cut, cap, and balance 
cuts spending now, caps it in the future, and only raises the debt 
ceiling if it is accompanied by a constitutional amendment to balance 
the Federal budget.
  That is what America wants, and it is what Washington needs. All we 
need is 20 Democrats to join us. At least 23 of them have led their 
constituents to believe they would fight for a balanced budget 
amendment. The White House has called for a balanced approach in this 
debate. This bill does not just suggest balance, it actually mandates 
it. So I strongly urge my Democratic friends to join us in supporting 
this legislation.
  Let me note in closing another virtue of the cut, cap, and balance 
plan. It does not raise taxes. Why is this a good thing? There are many 
reasons Americans do not like tax hikes. First, they know government is 
bound to waste the money. Americans have seen what government does with 
new tax revenue: It wastes it on things such as turtle tunnels. Second, 
it never uses it to pay down deficits and debt. So if you are concerned 
about the size of our debt, then raising taxes is a sure way to ensure 
that nothing gets done about it--absolutely nothing.
  The reason we have a debt crisis is government spends every cent it 
gets--and then some. Sending Washington more money will not solve the 
problem, it will enable it.
  Our tax system certainly is not perfect. But until Washington can 
prove it is responsible with our tax dollars, we should not be sending 
it more of those tax dollars. That is why Republicans have focused on 
cuts in this debate, and that is why every one of us--Democrat and 
Republican--should support cut, cap, and balance.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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