On the recordJuly 20, 2011
I'm here catching my breath after the debate over the extreme Tea Party legislation that we considered yesterday. It's easily one of the worst bills I can remember in nearly 20 years of service here in this body. Every time I think they can't possibly go any farther, the majority blows me away with the audacity of their proposals and the cruelty of their priorities. H.R. 2560, yesterday's debt ceiling proposal, almost makes the Ryan budget look progressive. It makes the continuing resolution passed back in April look positively generous. On this side of the aisle, we call it the Cut, Cap, and End Medicare plan, which is completely accurate. But I'm going to give it another name today, Cut, Cap, and Continue Wars, because throughout the debate over the debt ceiling there's been an elephant in the room, if you'll pardon the expression, that hardly anyone is willing to acknowledge, and that is the impact of waging not one, not two, but three wars is having on our Nation's fiscal health. Afghanistan alone is costing $10 billion a month, with the total price tag for Iraq and Afghanistan, going back 10 years, $3.2 trillion. And that's a conservative estimate, Mr. Speaker. These are staggering figures, especially during a recession when Americans are crying out for Washington to do something about creating jobs and breathing life back into our economy. And what are the taxpayers getting for their trillions of dollars in war spending?…
