John Shadegg

I think that reason alone, the fact that it is funded by a mechanism that imposes a tax on the poorest Americans to pay for a subsidy to people making over $60,000, and in some instances over $80,000 a year, is reason enough for the…

We have this chart which makes the point that the gentleman just brought up. The burden of tobacco taxes falls largely on poor Americans. As a matter of fact, 28 percent of the people who smoke are considered poor. They make less than 100…

So Medicaid covers poor children, and this program was designed to cover the near-poor or the working poor.

I love the name the CHUMP Act. Again, I think it would be hard for Americans to believe that this program is as it is. For example, these cartons represent, each one of them, 22 cartons of cigarettes, 22 million new Americans that will…

I find it stunning that the pay-for in this bill contemplates an additional 22 million people who are nonsmokers today needing to take up the smoking habit so they can pay the 61-cent per pack tax in order to have enough money to pay for…

When we talk about 300 percent of the Federal poverty level or 400 percent of the Federal poverty level, the abuse of the program, can the gentleman tell us about how much money that means? We say this program is not directed just at poor…

I think the key one you mentioned was coverage of illegal aliens. As I understand it, the way the bill is written, it, in fact, appears to prohibit illegal aliens from being covered under the bill, but the authors of the bill have…

I believe that we have to find the funding necessary for essential government programs and that cutting the Secretary of Agriculture is much better than cutting such programs as skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation facilities…

And I will continue to say that a $15 billion cut in skilled nursing facilities is, from my perspective, a bad idea, much worse than a $101,000 cut from the Secretary's budget. And, therefore, I rise in strong support of the McHenry…

I note with chagrin that because neither Republicans nor Democrats have the high ground on spending, something has to be done, and I would suggest at some point we have to begin. Maybe it is with this amendment, maybe it is not with this…

I would suggest that, while well-intentioned, the AmeriCorps program simply does not achieve its goal. It has been plagued throughout its history with paying volunteers for programs that are inappropriate, and I will recite some of those…

I certainly believe IDEA is underfunded. I know in my school districts in my schools there is a crying need.

Certainly. And I think we will. Except, as you say, you're not sure if you understand what would be dilatory tactics. We're not sure if we understand and can't know now what we might consider to be a substantive amendment which you would…

I understand the desire of people who want us out of Iraq to end the war and end the killing and to not have American troops on the battleground dying each day. I want that as well. The question one has to ask is, is that a viable…

All I know is we have been here so far almost 1 rac{1}{2} ext{ months and we have been allowed, in 1 rac{1}{2} ext{ months, one amendment. And it seems to me that you are frustrated with this debate and you want us to be discussing more…

I believe this discussion is about whether or not we are being asked to waste money, whether we are being asked, as has been articulated, to spend an extravagant amount of money, not to fly the Speaker and a few staff members, but to fly…

Probably not a financial interest if I just bring home the bacon. That is to say, if I just get a bridge or a tunnel or an overpass in my district, I still get to use taxpayer money to buy myself back into office.

Just quit digging. Quit stealing that Social Security surplus and spending it on other things.

And when they discover, as our colleague from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) explained, that we are actually taking that short-term surplus that we have, the excess of revenues we are getting in this year over the benefits we are paying out this…

I suppose, like a lot of us, people are confused about, well, what is the right overall solution and they are not quite sure exactly which reform measure is the right one to do. Is that right?

If they went like mine, you got a lot of feedback and a lot of confusion about how the Social Security system works.

We have been joined by the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) and I am thrilled to have her join in the discussion about what we do about Social Security, reforming Social Security, and about the new idea of the GROW accounts, of…

If the gentlewoman will remain for a moment, I would like to just ask her, I presume you have done Social Security town halls back home.

And what reaction did you get back home when people began to learn from at least 1993 forward to today, we have had an ongoing surplus of Social Security revenues over the benefits we pay out to those currently retired?

I am guessing the gentleman's experience is like mine, Americans have a simple image in their mind that if these are payroll taxes taken to fund Social Security, we ought to be using them to fund Social Security.