Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this bill is going to pass overwhelmingly. It may pass unanimously tonight, but I think this amendment would make it substantially better. I expect we will see a party-line vote on this amendment, and I think that is unfortunate because the consequence of the system--the unemployment insurance system--in this bill right now is that we are going to substantially disincentivize work, and it is going to hurt workers. It is going to hurt small businesses. Let me give you a concrete example. In Texas right now, the maximum unemployment insurance is $521 a week. After this bill passes, that will rise from $521 a week to $1,121 a week. That is nearly just over $58,000 a year. That means that, in the State of Texas, we are going to be paying people, offering them, basically, 28 bucks an hour not to work. Now, listen, every one of us recognizes that people are hurting. The problem is the incentive. We are creating an incentive that will hurt small businesses. If you have a waiter or a waitress who has lost their job for a few weeks, they are on unemployment, and they are making $25, $26, $28 an hour, suddenly, the prospect of going back to that job and seeing the money they are making going down substantially doesn't seem too attractive. And, suddenly, the restaurant owner who is trying to make the small business work can't attract those workers back. That is bad for everyone. Incentives matter. We want people to work.…”