On the recordJuly 28, 2010
I have a few things to remind him too. We passed a $1.2 trillion stimulus bill that was promised to reduce unemployment to 8 percent. Our unemployment is at 9.5 percent. We have 15 million unemployed Americans. Our issue is let's do things that help create jobs. And if we want to talk, you ought to go to the businesses that want to create jobs and they will tell you a cap-and-trade bill that raises carbon prices and energy cost does not help create jobs; in fact, it destroys jobs. It raises gasoline prices, at a minimum, 50 cents. It raises electricity rates. It raises consumer rates for what they pay for home electricity or home heating. And those are just the facts. We are $13.5 trillion in debt. This authorization and appropriation debate is important because authorizing gives us the right to appropriate. You shouldn't--we do it sometimes--you should not appropriate without an authorization. So you can't hide behind the argument that it's just an authorization, it means nothing. Well, it does mean something.
