On the recordAugust 2, 2011
although this bill reflects a balanced approach, Americans also expect a balanced budget. We need to apply the common sense of the heartland to spend within our means, as each family does with their monthly budget. The battle over this legislation was hard fought. We have finally started to change a 40-year culture of overspending and overborrowing in just 40 days. We hear the American people, and we respect their judgment. They tell us they are not undertaxed. They tell us Washington overspends. We have a government that claims to support a strong economy but urges tax increases that will weaken it. We hear speeches from some who want to expand employment but then attack employers. They argue for more access to credit but then assail the banks that would provide it. They call for more American energy but decry the very explorers who would find it. We need more straight talk and accountability. Small businesses provide the most jobs, and we should reward them. Inventors create new economies, and we should encourage them. Many government programs fail in their objectives, sometimes for decades, and we should cancel them. We face mounting government debt. The way to pay this debt is to generate more jobs, creating more taxpayers who will provide additional revenue, not new Federal job-killing taxes. Given the views of our President and the economically liberal Members of this Senate, the legislation before us is the best deal we can get.…





