Rob Andrews: “Mr. Speaker, there's been discussion on the floor of the long term. For the long-term unemployed in this country, the…”

“Mr. Speaker, there's been discussion on the floor of the long term. For the long-term unemployed in this country, the long term happened yesterday, or today, actually, the first of the month when the rent comes due and you can't pay it or your mortgage comes due and you can't pay it. They're living in the long term right now, and they need some help. And I think that considering this bill today is the right thing to do. I do want to reference the remarks which preceded me a few minutes ago by my friend from California, the senior member of the Rules Committee, about how, had the Congress embarked on the path he suggested early in 2009, that the economy would be so much stronger. And he is a fierce and articulate advocate of that point of view. But let's examine what that point of view is and what its track record is. The gentleman from California argued for cuts in marginal tax rates, mostly distributed to people at the top end--not all, but mostly. He argued for deregulation of the domestic markets and for a policy that pursues that goal. That is a quite accurate description of the economic policies of the administration of President George W. Bush.”