On the recordApril 8, 2014
We all believe in a growing economy, and we all believe in greater prosperity. The issue is how do we make sure we have that prosperity as a country. We have two very important strains in the American character. One strain is the entrepreneurial strain, the self-reliance strain, and that has helped generate great prosperity in this country. It has helped unleash huge amounts of potential; yet we have also learned as a country that there are some things we can do better by working together than if we are just hundreds of millions of people who are separately operating on their own, with things like investing in our national infrastructure, with things like investing in a world- class college system, with things like working and investing in medical research, so that we are the world's leader in those areas. Those are what have made us a world economic power and that have allowed us to support our military. The problem with the Republican budget is that it ignores that part of the American character. We keep hearing from our colleagues about all of those tax expenditures that are out there, but I just have to go back, Mr. Chairman, to point out that they don't close one of those tax loopholes for the purpose of helping to reduce the deficit.…
