Emanuel Cleaver: “My final argument is, and I think this is a very, very good example or illustration of the disparity between the…”

“My final argument is, and I think this is a very, very good example or illustration of the disparity between the recipients of the best ends of the tax cut. Lee Raymond, who was the retiring CEO of ExxonMobil, owns 7.7 million shares of their stock. Now, at the current dividend rate, he would generate, if he sold his stock today, $10 million. On top of that, he will have a $2.5 million tax cut. I think when we see that kind of disparity it has to pull at us that something is dreadfully wrong. Now, I am not upset with Mr. Raymond. I do not even know him. He may be a nice person. He may want to tithe to the church I pastored, but what I am concerned about is the fact that his total retirement package came close to $400 million, including his 7.7 million shares of stock. That is far more than one human being needs to earn, and I think that people who are earning $34,000, $45,000 a year are going to look at a $2.5 million tax cut for this gentleman and wonder about themselves. My final point that I have continued to make, as my uncle says sometimes I make the argument poorly, but it is that we cannot do everything. We cannot do everything. We cannot fight a war, $87 billion a year; we cannot fund all of the programs that people lobby you and me every day to fund; and we have used up every single nickel of the Social Security surplus. That is devastating, and we have got to come to grips with pay as we go, like all other Americans.…”