Steve Lynch: “Mr. Speaker, just to remind Members where we are in this debate, we are about to debate and take up a measure that…”

“Mr. Speaker, just to remind Members where we are in this debate, we are about to debate and take up a measure that would, number one, preserve the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans while we have a $1.3 trillion deficit in the current year. We would also, if this bill were to pass, create a tax exemption for estates of up to $10 million. That is for 6,600 individuals, which brings to mind, I will paraphrase Winston Churchill who said, it has been some time since so many have been asked to do so much for so few--and with no legitimate reason, I might add. We are also talking about raiding the Social Security trust fund for the next 2 years, a total of $111 billion, and increasing the deficit by about $1 trillion, which will require us to exceed the national debt limit. So in April or May of next year, with this bill passing, we will definitely exceed the current $14 trillion debt limit that the country has. I had a fair opportunity to negotiate contracts when I was an ironworker; and one thing I learned, and it applies to this agreement with the Republican Senate, there's a big difference between compromise and surrender. What this bill represents is a complete surrender of Democratic principles and standing up for working people and making them carry an undue burden under this new tax law.”