Steven Holt: “Instead of creating jobs--which is what the American people want and need from this body--we are here discussing a…”

“Instead of creating jobs--which is what the American people want and need from this body--we are here discussing a measure that has no chance of becoming law. Instead of working toward commonsense solutions to solve our jobs crisis and get Americans back to work, we are once again playing political games. Mr. Speaker, we should not allow last year's one-year mistake to become a permanent attack on Social Security and the livelihood of its beneficiaries. Social Security should not be used as a rainy-day fund or a political bargaining chip. It should come as no surprise that President Roosevelt described it best. He said, ``We put these payroll contributions there so as to give the contributors a legal, moral, and political right to collect their pensions and their unemployment benefits. With those taxes in there, no damn politician can ever scrap my social security program.'' Let's cut payroll taxes for 160 million Americans but make up the lost revenue by temporarily eliminating the cap on wages taxed for Social Security. As much as we need economic stimulus now, we will need Social Security for decades to come. What else does this legislation do, Mr. Speaker? It contains irrelevant and controversial provisions like the Keystone Pipeline, which the President has promised to veto. It requires millions of American seniors to pay more for health care, while doing nothing to ask the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share.…”