[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 4101-4102]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               THE BUDGET

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, these budgets we deal with are more than 
just a piece of paper with a lot of numbers. Each budget we put forward 
and the Republicans put forward are statements of our values, and it 
tells Americans basically whose side we are on.
  I think, when we look at these budgets, we will find the budget we 
have propounded--and we will see when the votes take place this week--
contains values that put the middle class first. Ours is a budget that 
supports hard-working families, creates jobs, and invests in our 
future.
  The Republicans, by contrast, have developed a budget that attacks 
the middle class and serves the interests of special interests and the 
superwealthy. How can I say that? I say that because it is the truth.
  For example, here are some of the priorities the Republicans are 
proposing in their budget. They want to take away health care from 16.4 
million Americans now insured through ObamaCare. The Senate 
Republicans' budget wreaks havoc on Medicare at the expense of 
America's seniors. The Senate Republicans' budget makes drastic cuts to 
Medicaid and undercuts millions of families who rely on it to pay for 
nursing homes and other care. A lot of the care we have in nursing 
homes is not for people who are indigent; it is for people who have had 
to go to Medicaid because everything they

[[Page 4102]]

have worked for their whole life is gone.
  The budget the Republicans are pushing guts nutrition assistance for 
those in need, slices job training and employment services for millions 
of American workers, and it cuts billions of financial aid for college 
students. That is the truth.
  These items are all attacking middle-class priorities. The 
Republicans, as usual, have gone the extra mile to protect special 
interests and the super-rich.
  Incredibly, even as they take money away from hard-working families, 
seniors, and students, Republicans will not close a single tax loophole 
to reduce the deficit--not one. Do they indirectly pay those super-rich 
more money? Of course they do.
  Forbes magazine had an article. For 2 years, between 2011 and 2013, 
the top 14 richest people in America gained during that period of time 
almost $200 billion. It is hard to comprehend, but it is true--14 
people, about $200 billion.
  Would the budget that has been put forth by the Republicans end tax 
breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas? No. Would they close 
loopholes for wealthy hedge fund managers? No. Would they take away 
wasteful and unneeded breaks for these huge oil and gas companies? No, 
not a single one. Would they ask millionaires and even billionaires to 
pay a penny more? No, not one.
  Attacking the middle class while protecting the superwealthy isn't 
just irresponsible, some would say it is immoral.
  There is more. The budget is dishonest. It claims to balance the 
budget, but it doesn't. To talk about balancing the budget over 10 
years is so foolish and so untrue.
  USA TODAY--the newspaper--said the Republicans' budget relies 
``heavily on huge and politically unlikely spending cuts and 
bewildering gimmicks that don't begin to add up.''
  The New York Times, in one of its op-eds, said the budget is a 
``trillion dollar con job.''
  I am not saying this. We have USA TODAY and the New York Times.
  But who is being fooled here? In fact, there is one area where so far 
many people have been fooled and they have been fooled a lot.
  During the markup of the budget resolution, Senate Republicans 
claimed to increase defense spending by adding an extra $38 billion in 
war funding, known as overseas contingency operations or OCO as we call 
it. The Republican leader talked about that a few minutes ago, but that 
money isn't even close to being real. Because of what seems to be a 
drafting error, not one extra dollar can be spent on defense above the 
sequestration caps.
  The resolution currently on the floor puts a strict cap on OCO 
spending. For whatever reason, Republicans neglected to increase the 
cap to allow for the additional $38 billion for defense. In other 
words, the Republicans' extra defense money is a fraud, a hoax, and 
certainly a political gimmick.
  We want to provide real sequestration relief, which has so bewildered 
the country in so many different ways, not only to defense but also the 
National Institutes of Health and virtually every program in America. 
We are going to propose just that as we move forward to get rid of 
sequestration.
  So we all look forward on this side to the debate. When it is over, 
Americans will have no doubt which party stands with the middle class 
and which party stands with special interests, millionaires, and 
billionaires.

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