Debbie Dingell: “here we are: another day, another tax cut, another political maneuver by my Republican colleagues. I would be remiss if…”

“here we are: another day, another tax cut, another political maneuver by my Republican colleagues. I would be remiss if I failed to mention that we have already done this. Recall, if you will, April 18, when this body voted to make the last year's tax cut permanent. Though I voted against it, it passed by a vote of 229-198. Why are we taking a piecemeal approach and voting on it again? Do we not have anything better to do with our time? Yes, we have plenty to do, like providing a prescription drug benefit for our seniors, increasing the minimum wage so people can earn more than a measly $5.15 an hour and making sure patients are protected from insurance company bureaucrats. Let's discuss the substance of this bill, something my Republican colleagues obviously have not done. Last year, the President promised we would be able to maintain a balanced budget, shore-up Social Security and Medicare, provide a prescription drug benefit to seniors, and give a huge tax cut to the wealthiest Americans. Well, as some of us in this body predicted, that has not materialized. That irresponsible tax cut was based on ten-year projections. The numbers used by the Republicans were grossly unrealistic. So, here we are, experiencing deficits instead of surpluses and the Republicans are telling us there are not sufficient resources for a decent prescription drug benefit.”