Rob Portman: “let us back up for a second and talk about why we are here. Let us remind ourselves of the fact that we are in a…”

“let us back up for a second and talk about why we are here. Let us remind ourselves of the fact that we are in a recession. The economy was already hurting before September 11, and it is in a whole lot worse shape now. Eight hundred thousand people we believe have lost their jobs since September 11. Businesses are shutting down, mostly small businesses, and people are hurting because people are unemployed. We are trying in a good faith effort to deal with that and to protect people's jobs and help jump start this economy. That is what this is all about. We can do it tonight. For starters, this package provides needed stimulus to the economy by giving people more money to spend so they can get out and spend more money. We heard earlier people care about consumers. I have heard tonight on the floor that this is all about the super rich; that it is all about fat cats, those are quotes, tax cuts for the rich. Tell me where they are. Is it the $13 billion that is going out to people who did not get checks over the summer and the fall, the $300, $500, and $600 checks? Are they the fat cats? They are at the low end of the economic scale. They need that money. They can use it right now. They will spend it. Is it lowering the taxes from 27 percent to 25 percent? These are people making $27,000 a year up to about $67,000 a year. Are these the super rich? Are these the fat cats? Are these the folks who I have heard about tonight on the floor? I do not think so.”