Political Quotes

On the recordDecember 8, 2010
Mr. Speaker, I'm bringing a resolution to the floor that I have minimum high regard for, to say the least. America is facing serious problems, the most depressing is that we have the biggest divide between the haves and the have-nots since the Great Depression. Over the last decade, 80 percent of the growth in our economy has gone to the luckiest 10 percent out there. Meanwhile, the economy is sputtering along, and families are hurting. And what has been Washington's response? Apparently, it is to spend nearly $80 billion over the next 2 years to give supersized tax cuts to millionaires and another $24 billion to give families worth $10 million a pass on paying taxes on their good fortune. This occurs at the same time that Washington politicians are singing pious songs about the need for deficit reduction. I hope that the Congress is not too 'offended' to recognize that, yes, we must deal with long-term budget deficits; but if this country is to grow for everybody, we also need to confront our investment deficits in jobs, in education, in infrastructure, and in science and technology.
Said by
David Obey
Wisconsin

Editor's note · Context

The speaker addresses economic inequality and government spending priorities.

Share

More from David Obey

Jul 22, 2010

Thank God finally there will be a cease-fire for the moment on the yap-yapping and the talk-talking while the Congress actually takes some action to restore unemployment benefits for nearly 85,000 people in my State and over 22 million…

govinfo.gov
Jul 27, 2010

Madam Speaker, after nearly 10 years, thousands of American troops killed or wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars of borrowed money, I believe we must radically change our policy in Afghanistan. Of all the disturbing things in the…

govinfo.gov
Mar 24, 2010

This bill also provides for a 1-month extension of the Recovery Act Small Business Lending program and provides an additional $60 million for that program. Through March 12 of this year, the Recovery Act Small Business Lending program has…

govinfo.gov
May 25, 1994

Mr. Chairman, I agree with the gentleman. As he knows, we inserted language in our report this year that states that the committee is not at all pleased with the level that AID provided last year. The committee expects AID to be much more…

govinfo.gov

Other voices in this conversation