On the recordJuly 28, 2011
It's high time that we stopped playing Russian roulette with the American economy and American jobs. And yet that is exactly what this measure does, for the following reason. It says, Okay, America, we're going to pay America's bills, but only for 5 more months--and only if we put in motion a plan that will end the Medicare guarantee and slash education. The proposal before us today will put the American economy and American jobs at even greater jeopardy over the next 5 months than they are today. It deliberately, by choice, keeps the economy under a cloud of instability and uncertainty. It chooses to risk higher interest rates and shrinking retirement funds that hit on every American family. So why would we choose to intentionally keep this cloud hanging over the country and the American people? We're told that we have to do it in order to force this Congress to reduce the deficit. That's what we're told. But the actions tell a very different story. The actions suggest this is not about reducing the deficit. It's about reducing the deficit in a particular way--the way the Republican plan wants to reduce the deficit. That's why our Republican colleagues walked out of talks three times. That's why they've rejected the balanced approach and framework put forward by the President that says, Let's do $4 trillion in deficit reduction, and we'll do $3 trillion in spending cuts and $1 trillion in revenue.…
