Political Quotes

“I'd like to thank my chairman. While other speakers have noted some of the shortcomings and their reluctant support, I enthusiastically support this legislation. Unlike the 2001-2003 tax cuts, in 2001, 36 percent of the tax benefit went to folks earning more than $200,000 a year. In the 2003 tax cut, 67 percent of the tax rebates and tax refunds and tax cuts went to those earning over $200,000 a year. In this stimulus package, zero. The lion's share of the tax rebate goes to people earning between $40,000 and $80,000 a year. I enthusiastically support the middle class of this country, and we are doing it in this bill. Thirty-seven million Americans who were left out of the 2001 and 2003 tax cut will get close to $28 billion of this tax cut. I enthusiastically support that type of economic prosperity. Like my colleague on the other side from Michigan, once we right this economy hopefully with this stimulus package and interest rate cuts, we need to deal with long-term issues. On those issues, how did we get here? In the last 7 years, our debt went from $5.7 trillion to $9.2 trillion. President Bush inherited 3 years in a row of surplus, to 6 years in a row of deficit spending. Health care costs went from $6,000 for a family of four to doubling to $12,000 for a family of four. College costs increased by over $2,000 a year for a middle-class family. Energy costs went from $1.39 a gallon to $3.07 a gallon.”