Jeff Merkley

What has essentially happened since 1974 is that, inflation adjusted, the wages of working Americans have stayed flat for 35 years.

I just want to express a lot of concern about the cuts that are there.

We reduce our dependence on foreign oil, we create American jobs, and we have environmental benefits.

We have had administrations in the past that have talked about attacking our dependence on foreign oil and our addiction to oil in general.

I am delighted to see... the funding of low-cost loans for energy renovations.

We are calling upon the Federal Government to honor its contract with the counties.

I appreciate the question that Senator Wyden asked about the effect the budget is going to have on the 750,000 small businesses.

I would ask everybody else to weigh in except my time has expired, so thank you very much.

I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

So let me press that a little bit because the problem seems to be...

I think that it is a good idea.

Is there a rational argument for this? Or is this just plain out a crazy thing to do, to subsidize the construction of factories that compete with American factories?

I think the United States as a whole seems to have a parallel problem.

I want to compliment my colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, for consistently and effectively raising the issue of tax simplification.

The idea is that now you have a working family of modest means that is buying a very modest house, and we are helping them become homeowners.

The vast bulk of the subsidy goes to the families who need it the least in terms of actually becoming homeowners.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and I appreciated the reference, Mr. Chairman, to the Small Business Lending Fund, which was a proposal that I developed in response to a problem we saw in community banks in Oregon.

This remains both a huge factor affecting the quality of life for families and their ability to look positively on the future.

The employment goals also are impacted by the ability of us to sell our products overseas.

We have American families who are hurting. They have lost their jobs, their retirement savings, the value of their houses. Let's have the plan that is best for creating jobs, not the plan that is worst for creating jobs.

I have noted that the Democrats have laid out a plan that provides tax cuts for all Americans. But my good friend from Tennessee just noted he wants the version that has no increase on anyone. What he didn't explain--but I will--is that…

What I hear repeatedly from communities back home is that the Corps was able to provide this engineering certification far more cheaply, efficiently, and they are being forced into a far higher cost of solutions.

I am certainly not satisfied that we have a strategy to address those recertifications.

So it sounds like you would recommend spending that surplus to tackle these needed repairs, maintenance, efficiencies, and thereby we would also be creating jobs during this difficult period.

And with substantial energy savings as well.