[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18381]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     PULSE OF TEXAS--MIKE: ``CANNOT HAVE COOKIES WITHOUT THE MILK''

  (Mr. POE of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, ``Can't have cookies without the milk. 
Tax reform and spending cuts, not one without the other.'' That was a 
comment on my Facebook page from Mike in Texas.
  The American people get it. Why doesn't the government? Because 
Washington is addicted to spending somebody else's money. The House has 
already passed two bills that would avert the fiscal cliff, but as 
usual, the Senate is missing in action.
  In August, we passed a bipartisan bill, an extension of current tax 
rates for all Americans through the end of 2013. Then, the week before 
Christmas, the House again passed legislation to avoid defense 
sequestration by cutting spending. But as usual, both bills lie in the 
graveyard of the Senate, where good bills go to die.
  Mr. Speaker, it's time for the Senate and Senator Reid to man up, 
consider these bills, and get serious about the root of the problem: 
spending. We got here by spending too much, not taxing too little.
  And that's just the way it is.

                          ____________________