On the recordDecember 2, 2010
The unemployment rate in October, the latest data available, was 9.6 percent. That marked 15 consecutive months we are at or above 9.5 percent unemployment in this country, the longest period since the Great Depression. All told, 48 out of 50 States have lost jobs since the so-called $1 trillion stimulus bill and nearly 15 million Americans remain unemployed. What's a Democrat's answer to the Great Recession? Increased taxes, but not just any taxes. Democrats in the bill before us today are targeting half of all small business income in the country. Democrats are targeting the very employers we need, hiring more workers, and buying more equipment, not paying more taxes. Let's face it, this bill is as misguided as it is futile. This is the wrong policy at the wrong time and the majority is wrong to bring it to the floor today. In fact, many of their own Members agree with me. I have here in my hand a letter signed by over 30 Democrat Members of the House and let me read what they wrote: 'In recent weeks we have heard from a diverse spectrum of economists, small business owners and families who have voiced their concerns that raising any taxes right now could negatively impact economic growth. Given the continued fragility of our economy and slow pace of our recovery, we share their concerns.' I want to repeat that: raising any taxes right now could negatively impact economic growth.
