Steny Hoyer: “let me start by saying that Democrats have not spent any money over the last 6 years. None of our budgets have passed.…”

“let me start by saying that Democrats have not spent any money over the last 6 years. None of our budgets have passed. The appropriations bills would not have passed but for Republican votes, and the Republican President signed the budgets. That is what this crowd has offered. They have done it all. What has that meant? Three trillion dollars of additional deficit spending. That is what it has meant. This budget continues that practice. Mr. Chairman, the overwhelming majority of Americans now believe that our great Nation is headed in the wrong direction. Not difficult to understand why they think that. The Republican Party's incompetence over the past 5\1/2\ years is undeniable, from the miscalculations in Iraq to the inept response to Hurricane Katrina, to failure to secure our ports and borders, to the historic turnaround in our fiscal health from the $5.6 trillion surplus that they inherited, which they have turned into a $4 trillion deficit, a $9.6 trillion turnaround in 64 months; 5.4 million more Americans live in poverty, 6 million more are uninsured. Real median household income has dropped nearly $1,700. Thus, today it is stunning that our Republican colleagues have brought a budget resolution to this floor that so badly betrays our values and fails to meet our Nation's priorities. This shamefully short-sighted budget resolution cuts crucial investment in our Nation and our people.…”