On the recordApril 14, 2011
For the sake of this institution and our Republic, I hope a final vote on this CR can end the slow, sad, and silly process we have endured. I will not be able to support the bill because it really is a bill that will cost jobs, not create jobs; but at least we will end the budget whiplash we've been through, and have subjected the American public to, in our country for the last several months. The American people want to work. This Congress needs to act to that end. A focus on jobs is what is lacking in this legislation before us today. The bill cuts vital transportation projects, like the elimination of High Speed Rail ($2.9 Billion in funding cut), that will cost America new jobs, not create them. Cutting back on food to children and needy families by half a billion dollars ($504 million cut) will not save money--it will result in less healthy citizens, more illnesses and higher medical costs as diabetes, poor health, and hypertension rise. Meanwhile Lloyd Blankfien, the head of Wall Street GS just scooped another $25 million from stock options.
