Ed Markey: “I thank the gentleman very much. I rise in opposition to this Republican attempt to deem their budget passed, just deem…”

“I thank the gentleman very much. I rise in opposition to this Republican attempt to deem their budget passed, just deem it passed so that we can begin with this process. It's just wrong. It's not the way we should be conducting business, but it's the way they have been operating all year. Recently, radio evangelist Harold Camping calculated that the world would end at precisely 6 p.m. on May 21. Well, he was wrong. But much like Harold Camping's wildly inaccurate predictions, the House Republicans have come up with their own apocalyptic vision, the Republican Rapture. This budget decides who gets lifted up into the economic stratosphere and who gets left behind. Under this scheme, if you are a millionaire or a billionaire, you get raptured into heaven with all of your tax breaks remaining intact. But if you are Grandma and Grandpa, and you are dependent upon Medicare in order to take care of your health care needs, you get moved to political purgatory. That's their plan. Now, if you are one of the big five oil companies that are reporting record profits, you get raptured with all of your tax breaks left intact in this budget, which we are debating here today. You keep all of your tax breaks. But if you are a college kid hoping to get a Pell Grant, no, ladies and gentlemen, you are back in political purgatory. Your educational future is in question.…”