[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Page 12679]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PRESIDENTIAL LEADERSHIP

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, you know there is not much to say about 
the President's speech yesterday other than that he actually retreated 
from previous commitments to a more bipartisan, revenue-neutral 
corporate tax reform and then tried to sell that rejection of 
bipartisanship as some ``grand bargain''--I mean, only in Washington. 
But let me say this: It really would be nice to see the President work 
with Congress for a change to get some important work done for the 
American people. Republicans have been eager to do this all along, but, 
really, it is almost as if there is a ``Gone Campaignin''' sign outside 
the Oval Office--a ``Gone Campaignin''' sign outside the Oval Office. 
On the rarest of occasions when he does come to the Hill, as he will 
today, you find out it is basically just for another internal campaign 
rally with Democrats.
  I hope he will finally get serious and make one of his famous 
pivots--this time in a new direction toward effective policy and away 
from the never-ending political sideshow. But it is hard to see, 
especially when you consider that the President's party is now 
attempting to blow up one of the most genuinely bipartisan 
accomplishments of the Obama era.
  The Budget Control Act that was agreed upon two summers ago 
represented a commitment from Washington to America, a bipartisan 
promise to enact $2.1 trillion in spending control. Last year the 
slightest hint of fiddling with the spending caps led to a furious 
response from senior Washington Democrats. It even led to a veto threat 
from the White House. But now Washington Democrats are tired of 
bipartisanship. The commitments they made have become an inconvenience 
to their special interest agenda, so now they are threatening to shut 
the government down if they are not allowed to break their word. That 
is what this appropriations debate we are having is all about. It is 
about an attempt to blow up an important bipartisan achievement by 
busting the spending caps to which both parties already agreed.
  Republicans do not believe we should be breaking our commitments to 
the American people, and breaking commitments in order to overspend, as 
Democrats propose, seems like an even worse reason for them to shut 
down the government. So I hope they will not. I hope they will think 
about the ``third way'' offer we have made to them too--that we would 
happily discuss exchanging some of the particular cuts they do not like 
for government reforms, the kinds of innovative ideas that can get our 
economy back on track and our government back in the black not just in 
the immediate term but over the long haul. This policy discussion has 
never been more relevant, especially when we look at what is happening 
in Detroit and what is happening in Europe, when we realize that the 
real-world consequences of putting off reform are no longer just 
abstract or hypothetical, they are here, they are real, and they are 
now.
  The experts tell us that the United States is already on a completely 
unsustainable fiscal trajectory and that we need to make some big 
changes today if we want to avoid a similar fate. They also tell us 
that, unlike Detroit or Greece, America still has some time to chart 
its own future--but not long. That is why the choices we make today are 
so important. We can follow the Democratic path to austerity--the path 
of breaking spending caps wide open and borrowing more money we do not 
have, of callously rejecting reform and blissfully denying the future. 
That path inevitably leads to European-style austerity, to the 
decimation of the middle class, to desperation for the least among us, 
or we can follow the Republican path to reform and growth, a path of 
smart choices, innovative reforms, and orienting our economy toward the 
future. The Republican path not only prevents austerity tomorrow but 
leads to more jobs and a better economy today. The Democratic path to 
austerity or a Republican path to reform and growth, these are the 
choices.
  Voting for appropriations legislation that blatantly violates budget 
reforms already agreed to by both parties moves our country in exactly 
the wrong direction. It puts us on the Democratic path to austerity. 
That is one of the many reasons I will be voting against this spending 
bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. It is time to get 
serious about the challenges we face. It is time to work together to 
reposition America for growth and prosperity and sustainability in the 
21st century.
  If the President is willing to get off the campaign trail and show 
some leadership with his party--convince them of the positive reforms 
and the need to actually stick to them--I am confident we can create a 
better economy today and leave a better future for our children 
tomorrow. But it is up to him, and his visit today offers a great 
chance to convey this message to his fellow Democrats.

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