Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the senior Senator from Montana, who laid out exactly why his efforts to extend the Bush tax cuts to the middle class up to $250,000 and to not extend them beyond that is the exact right public policy. It is good fiscal policy. It is good economic policy. It is good for our country. It is exactly the right thing to do. I thank him for his explanation of including the earned-income tax credit, which is the best tax incentive to help people who are working hard, playing by the rules, making $20,000 to $30,000 a year, get a much fairer tax--really encouraging work the way the IETC does. I also thank the chairman of the Finance Committee, the senior Senator from Montana, for including the unemployment insurance in this because 85,000 Ohioans have lost their unemployment insurance. These are people--or many of them are, as I have read letters on the Senate floor and will read a couple today--who have worked for 20, 30, 40 years and simply can't find a job. There are five people applying for every one job opening in my State and in this country. It is so important that these people continue to get some assistance. In spite of what some of my Republican colleagues suggest, unemployment insurance is insurance, not welfare. Their employer, on their behalf, pays into the unemployment insurance fund in their States. When they lose their jobs, because it is insurance, they should get assistance. It is like fire or health insurance.…”