Political Quotes

“I want to make sure we put this into the context of the lameduck session. This is a session when we are debating tax cuts, and the position held by the other side of the aisle is that we should give tax cuts to those making $1 million a year in income, which is roughly $20,000 a week. If I understand the differences in the Democratic position and the Republican position, we think those making $1 million a year should get roughly $6,000 in tax cuts. They believe those making $1 million year should get $100,000 in tax cuts. I also understand if the Republican position prevails, it will add $700 billion to the deficit over 10 years, just to give tax cuts to those making over $250,000 a year or $70 billion a year. So their position, when it comes to tax cuts for the wealthiest in America, is that we can afford to add $70 billion to the deficit with a tax cut for millionaires each year and not accept the reality that that is one of the poorest ways to spark growth in our economy. Our position is that, historically, when we reach high levels of unemployment--over 7.2 percent--we have extended unemployment benefits. We are now at about 9.6 percent. And we believe we should extend unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.”