Posted on 07/21/2011 3:36:23 PM PDT by mdittmar
Washington, D.C. Nevada Senator Harry Reid made the following remarks today on the Senate floor about averting a default crisis. Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
We have 12 days left before our nation does the unthinkable: forever undermines the full faith and credit of our great country.
As members of Congress, we come from 50 states, but we serve one nation.
The American people deserve better than leaders who each stake out their own radical positions, forsaking the good of that nation. The American people expect us to find common ground no matter how difficult it may seem.
Every reasonable voice in America has warned us that defaulting on this nations financial obligations would not only be a blight on our reputation, but precipitate a global economic crisis.
Those warnings have come from the banking industry and the business community. They have come from our finest economists and shrewdest investors. They have come from former legislators and past policy makers from both sides of the aisle.
And they have come from reasonable people right here, in the United States Congress.
Its clear to me that we have to increase the debt ceiling. Thats what John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House, said this spring.
He also said this:
Not raising the debt limit would have serious, very serious, implications for the worldwide economy and jobs here in America.
His deputy, Eric Cantor agrees. Last week he said this about the need to avert the impending crisis:
We want to make sure that we avoid default. We want to make sure that we avoid going past August 2nd without raising the debt ceiling.
And my Republican counterpart here in the Senate, the senior Senator from Kentucky, said he would support raising the debt limit as long as Congress used the opportunity to do something really important about the national deficit.
Democrats are willing to join together with our colleagues from the other side of the aisle to do, as my Republican counterpart said, something really important.
We have already shown our willingness to make tough decisions for the sake of finding common ground even when it means drawing the ire of our own political party.
Unfortunately, the loudest voices from the Republican Party are not reasonable leaders, but Tea Party extremists.
Congress has days, not weeks, to reassure the markets that when this great nation issues an IOU we stand by it that we dont turn into deadbeats when the bills come due.
If you want to know how important this issue is, listen to the words of Ronald Reagan. This is why he said about the importance of averting this kind of default:
The United States has a special responsibility to itself and the world to meet its obligations. It means we have a well-earned reputation for reliability and credibility two things that set us apart from much of the world.
President Reagan took the threat of default seriously. So do reasonable Republicans in Congress today.
Yet I fear the closer we get to disaster, the further we get from a deal.
Democrats have shown they are willing to work with Republicans on any serious, reasonable plan that averts default and cuts the deficit in a balanced way.
Now its time for House Republicans to show they are also willing to get serious, too.
A plan that would decimate Social Security, Medicare and every other federal benefit while protecting hundreds of billions of dollars in special interest tax breaks is not a serious plan. Republicans so-called Cut, Cap and Balance plan doesnt have one chance in a million of passing the Senate.
The moment for partisan games is long since passed. It is time patriots on both sides of the aisle joined hands to actually govern.
I ask, will reasonable Republicans to join us in forging a compromise that is good for the county?
Neither Zero or Dingy have put a proposal on the table.
Oh! I had never noted the coarse red potato nose. Some things make more sense now.
Rich: It is time for reasonable Democrats to drown Harry Reid in a vat of Irish Coffee.
Wow — what a great, great bumper sticker idea!
I, too, am a Proud TPE!
No, Harry, it’s time for you DemonRats to at least offer something up instead of just bitching. Compromise in your world means we bend over, and you driving us to Cleveland. That ain’t happenin’.
Go ahead Reid, answer some prayers..... and have your massive heart attack.
When this man speaks, my blood boils! I can’t stand this man.
Yep, drinker maybe, although there may be other explanations...!
As members of Congress, we come from 50 states, but we serve one nation, one party, one LEADER.
We spent trillions building you a paradise where we libs could run free.
Now you have to pay it America.
So fork it over - we need raises. :)
What IS this, a rip-off of: "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country" ???
And Harry, FYI - THAT quote came from Charles E. Weller, a ... [WAIT FOR IT] ... Typing Instructor ...
They need to start listening to WE THE PEOPLE.....
What is it going to take to get them to understand that they are the minority in this decision?
Detailed list of expenditures for the ‘Stimulus’: http://www.propublica.org/special/the-stimulus-plan-a-detailed-list-of-spending
(That’s a MUST see visual. It’s unreal).
‘Stimulus’ $789 billion
Various expenditures
$7.2 billion to “increase broadband access and usage in unserved and underserved areas of the Nation.”
$16.4 for transit projects and high-speed rail: this not as much as mass-transit advocates wanted (and the total includes grants to states). But it’s an important step forward on this front.
$6 billion “for local clean and drinking water infrastructure improvements.” Not only will this promote better health, it will, House Democrats say, create hundreds of thousands of jobs.
$15.6 billion to “increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500.” Education staffers on the Hill insist this will do wonders in getting lower-income children into upper-level schools. Seven million students, they say, will be helped in their pursuit of higher education.
$3.95 billion for job training. Much of this money will be funneled through the states. The funds will not only get people to work, but create the foundation for emerging industries and companies to blossom.
$4.5 billion to repair federal buildings and increase energy efficiency. Think short-term jobs and long-term energy cost savings.
$2 billion in “grant funding for the manufacturing of advanced batteries systems and components and vehicle batteries that are produced in the United States.” This could help the U.S. regain supremacy in the car wars.
$11 billion for “smart-grid related activities, including work to modernize the electric grid.”
$2 billion to provide quality child care services. More parents will be able to go to work as the cost of childcare falls.
$29 billion for highways. The one area of agreement between Republicans and Democrats: infrastructure is the quickest way to get job growth immediately.
Tax credits “for families that purchase plug-in hybrid vehicles.” This could grow up to $7,500.
$20 billion in tax incentives to spur the use of renewable energy over the next 10 years.
$3 billion for the National Science Foundation. This stems from an Obama campaign promise to not leave science neglected. The money will provide for “basic research in fundamental science and engineering — which spurs discovery and innovation.”
$19 billion to accelerate adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT). Another Obama pet-project, this will modernize health care and help save billions of dollars for hospitals.
$10 billion to “conduct biomedical research in areas such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and stem cells, and to improve NIH facilities.”
The following is a list of some of the measures in the stimulus. It was supplied to the Citizens Against Government Waste by Sen. Tom Coburn (R.-Okla.).
$2 billion earmark to re-start FutureGen, a near-zero emissions coal power plant in Illinois that the Dept. of Energy defunded last year because the project was inefficient
$246 million tax break for Hollywood movie producers to buy motion picture film
$650 million for the digital television (DTV) converter box coupon program
($88 million for the Coast Guard to design a new polar icebreaker (arctic ship)
$448 million for constructing the Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters
$248 million for furniture at the new Dept. of Homeland Security headquarters
$600 million to buy hybrid vehicles for federal employees (I vote we eliminate cars for federal employees altogether)
$400 million for the CDC to screen and prevent STD’s
$1.4 billion for a rural waste disposal programs
$125 million for the Washington, D.C. sewer system
$150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities
$1 billion for the 2010 Census, which has a projected cost overrun of $3 billion
$75 million for “smoking cessation activities”
$200 million for public computer centers at community colleges
$75 million for salaries of employees at the FBI
$25 million for tribal alcohol and substance abuse reduction
$500 million for flood reduction projects on the Mississippi River
$10 million to inspect canals in urban areas
$6 billion to turn federal buildings into “green” buildings
$500 million for state and local fire stations
$650 million for wildland fire management on Forest Service lands
$150 million for Smithsonian museum facilities
$1.2 billion for “youth activities,” including youth summer job programs
$88 million for renovating the headquarters of the Public Health Service
$412 million for CDC buildings and property
$500 million for building and repairing NIH facilities in Bethesda, MD
$160 million for “paid volunteers” at the Corporation for National and Community Service
$5.5 million for “energy efficiency initiatives” at the VA “National Cemetery Administration”
$850 million for Amtrak
$100 million for reducing the hazard of lead-based paint
$75M to construct a new “security training” facility for State Dept Security officers when they can be trained at existing facilities of other agencies.
$110 million to the Farm Service Agency to upgrade computer systems
$200 million in funding for the lease of alternative energy vehicles for use on military installations.
From the WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123310466514522309.html
“Congress also wants to spend $7 billion for modernizing federal buildings and facilities.
$252 billion is for income-transfer payments
—$81 billion for Medicaid
—$36 billion for expanded unemployment benefits, $20 billion for food stamps
—$83 billion for the earned income credit
$20 billion for business tax cuts
“...only $90 billion out of $825 billion, or about 12 cents of every $1, is for something that can plausibly be considered a growth stimulus.”
Repeat: 12 cents of each $1.00 ‘stimulates’
This is a good example of the “social injustice” in our nation caused by those who use those words trying to make us feel guilty.They should feel guilty for such shameful waste. Most of us have difficulty in keeping our credit rating and paying our bills and being good citizens and these are the examples being set by our so-called leaders.
What a disgrace.... and also it is unethical immoral and in some cases probably illegal!
It’s time Reid met his maker, “for the good of the country”.
Cut, Cap & Balance *IS* reasonable, it is responsible, it is compromise, it is a balanced approach.
Another version of kick the ball charlie brown we will cut back on spending in 2022:
Exactly.
Here’s a shiv in your gut.
These are examples of NASA funds from the Stimulus:
NASA science
$400,000,000
NASA aeronautics
$150,000,000
NASA exploration
$400,000,000
NASA cross agency support
$50,000,000
http://www.propublica.org/special/the-stimulus-plan-a-detailed-list-of-spending
If any of my state senators or congressmen/women vote to lift the debt ceiling without cutting, capping, and balancing the budget...
I WILL NOT VOTE TO REELECT THEM!
This is my warning to RINOS and CINOS that I will not tolerate any more compromise with the ObamaNation.
If you didn’t get my angry message in November 2010...
I guarantee that you will get my angry message in November 2012 when I use my vote to punish the GOP!
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