[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11680]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    DON'T RAISE TAXES IN A RECESSION

  (Mr. STUTZMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUTZMAN. Madam Speaker, in August 2009, President Obama visited 
my district in Elkhart, Indiana. A brave constituent of mine expressed 
his disappointment with taxes and asked the President to explain how 
raising taxes on anyone during a deep recession is going to help with 
the economy. President Obama responded: ``I guess what I would say to 
Scott is his economics are right; you don't raise taxes in a 
recession.''
  Responding to a follow-up question by MSNBC's Chuck Todd, he stated: 
``So he is absolutely right. The last thing you want to do is to raise 
taxes in the middle of a recession because that would just suck up--
take more demand out of the economy and put business in a further 
hole.''
  Now the President is demanding that any debt ceiling compromise 
include higher taxes. That would discourage economic growth and, in his 
own words, take more money out of the economy.
  Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The GOP 
plan, the Path to Prosperity, addresses our spending problems, puts our 
Nation on a strong footing and begins the journey towards balanced 
budgets and economic recovery. As part of our Cut, Cap, and Balance 
Act, House Republicans have demanded that a balanced budget amendment 
to the Constitution be sent to the States for ratification, to require 
a balanced budget in Washington just like Americans do every day.

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