On the recordJune 30, 2010
I asked him a question that went directly to the Senator's point: As we talk about reducing the deficit, isn't there a worry or concern that if we hit the brakes too soon, we can plunge even deeper into a recession, with more people out of work? He said yes. He said that you have to make sure we start moving forward, putting people to work, with the GDP growing; and once you have the economy stabilized and moving forward, with people paying taxes--which, incidentally, brings down the deficit--then you can talk about the long-term deficit fix. So I say to the Senator from Iowa, he really hit the nail on the head. Our colleagues on the other side who refuse to support extending unemployment compensation benefits say: We want to take it from some other area of spending. Well, of course, that just reduces the stimulus to the American economy. So they are not helping things.
