On the recordDecember 30, 2012
I rise today frustrated, embarrassed, and angry. It is absolutely inexcusable that all of us find ourselves in this place at this time standing on the floor of the Senate in front of the American people, hours before we plunge off the fiscal cliff, with no plan and no apparent hope, but here we are, and we have to do something. If we are as determined to go over the cliff as we seem, we have to do something to soften the landing because at the bottom of the fiscal cliff are immediate and massive tax increases, deep and indiscriminate spending cuts, and the risk of another recession. So, as we come down on the final hours, we have two choices--to do nothing and cause an unbelievable amount of hardship for our fellow Americans or to do something to reduce the suffering inflicted on our citizens by an inflexible political system. I choose to do something. Today I am introducing the CALM Act, which stands for the Cliff Alleviation at the Last Minute Act. The CALM Act will do three important things: It will soften the financial blow of the fiscal cliff, it will calm our financial markets, and it gives us the certainty of a plan now but allows us, if we ever find the courage, to pursue the fiscal grand bargain that has eluded us so far. Make no mistake, the financial markets are watching us, and they are getting more nervous by the hour. We need to reassure them that we are capable of making big financial decisions.…
