On the recordDecember 20, 2011
I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, if my friends on the other side of the aisle are confused about why we're here, let me enlighten them. It's because the President's policies have failed. In the Obama economy, employment has been at, near or above 9 percent ever since the gentleman was elected. One in seven are on food stamps, and small business start-ups are at a 17-year low. So, Mr. Speaker, that's why we're here today. I think almost everyone in this Chamber agrees, yes, we want to extend the Social Security payroll tax holiday. But what is so curious to me, Mr. Speaker, is I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle say, we need to do it for a year, but we're only willing to vote for 60 days. I don't understand that, Mr. Speaker. And I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle saying, middle- income families deserve this $1,000 tax cut; yet they're only willing to vote for $160. And then they say, we have to pass it today, we can't let New Year's Day come without passing this; and yet they won't appoint anybody to a conference committee, and everyone is getting ready to run to the airport. I don't understand it, Mr. Speaker. So the question is, are my friends on the other side of the aisle interested in making a law that will help American families and hardworking taxpayers, or are they interested in making a campaign issue that they can recycle every 60 days? Only they can answer the question. Now, Mr.…
