On the recordDecember 16, 2010
I didn't, Mr. Chairman, hear this angst and anxiety when my friends on the other side of the aisle not only brought us the first trillion dollar deficit in America's history, but backed it up with the second trillion dollar deficit in American history. I didn't hear all this concern. I only hear it now when we're talking about letting the American people keep what they earn. We're not even talking about a tax cut here. We're talking about preventing a tax increase. So I don't quite understand all of a sudden this great angst and concern about the deficit. And I might remind all of my colleagues, it is the deficit which is the symptom. It is spending which is the disease. We can clearly get rid of the deficit tonight. Let's increase taxes 60 percent, 60 percent on all Americans. Let's more than double taxes on our children and destroy the American Dream. Sure, we can balance the budget. That doesn't take care of the fiscal insanity. And so to avoid a further job meltdown--and let me make it very clear, Mr. Chairman, this is not any great economic growth package that is put before us. I don't believe that this is going to be the cornucopia of jobs. What we're trying to do here is avoid further damage to a crippled economy that, again, has almost double-digit unemployment on a serial basis. I wish we had at least 10 years of certainty of these tax rates. I'm sorry it's only two.
