Madam President, I rise today to discuss the so-called grand bargain referenced yesterday by the President. On Tuesday President Obama recycled a number of policy ideas that have lingered for months, if not years, and repackaged them as what he called ``a grand bargain.'' This proposal seems to be an attempt by the President to extend an olive branch to the Republican side of the aisle by offering corporate tax reform. In exchange, he is asking for additional stimulus spending. I am in favor of a grand bargain, but this is not even close to a grand bargain. It is not even a bargain. A grand bargain would involve reform to entitlement programs to make them sustainable over time. A grand bargain would involve a farsighted look at the outyears, not just a shortsighted attempt to score political points for the next election cycle. The administration has taken the taxpayer down the road of stimulus spending before, with the idea that we can stimulate job growth with so-called shovel-ready projects. Sadly, we have all seen what throwing taxpayer money at supposed shovel-readiness gets you and just how lackluster this economic recovery has been. Wasting hard-earned dollars on so-called investments doesn't create jobs. Businesses and the people who build them is what creates jobs. I think both sides of the aisle agree that our Tax Code is already far too complicated.…
On the recordAugust 1, 2013
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