On the recordFebruary 8, 2018
Mr. President, I rise today in opposition to the massive spending increases included in the proposed budget measure. To propose increasing Federal spending by nearly $300 billion over the next 2 years, on top of the spending increases already established, is simply beyond comprehension. This is all with a national debt of $20 trillion a year, and the current deficit is running $600 billion to $700 billion. Yet we are about to vote on a bill to abandon self-imposed limits on Federal spending. As anybody who has spent time in Washington will know, once you raise spending limits, you just don't get them back down. I love bipartisanship, but not when it is bought and paid for with billions of taxpayer dollars. That is precisely what this measure does. If you sprinkle enough money around, you can get bipartisan support. While I was in the House for 12 years, I kept a journal of events. In December of 2007, when we passed a massive omnibus bill, at that time, I noted in my journal: The Democrats singled out the funding for the Iraq war, which required a separate vote. The tally board on the House chamber wall explaining the vote said the following: ``Agreeing to House amendment to Senate amendment to House amendment.'' I said at that time: That clears it up. But that's the point. Liberal Democrats could vote against the war funding and for more domestic funding. Conservative Republicans could do the opposite.…





