Political Quotes

“Mr. President, we are going to be taking up the so-called HIRE Act starting tomorrow. I wish to address some of the problems with it since the procedure under which we have considered this bill does not allow any amendments. As a result, we have no opportunity to fix problems that are inherent with the bill and will force me to vote against it. The first provision that should be highlighted is the provision called the Build America Bonds. This was created first in the 2009 stimulus bill. It offers a direct subsidy from the Federal Government to States and other governmental entities to cover their cost of financing for certain kinds of projects. The House-passed bill expands this subsidy by allowing four current tax-preferred bonds to qualify for the direct subsidy under this program and increases the generosity of that subsidy to cover all of the borrowing costs for education projects. This will mean an expansion of the already substantial support the Federal Government offers for State and local governments, support for which we taxpayers are then responsible. The Federal Government gave $44 billion in extraordinary stimulus State aid last year and regularly spends $26 billion annually in sub-Federal Government subsidies through tax-exempt bond financing. This is a significant Federal expenditure for which taxpayers will be responsible.…”