WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following remarks on the Senate floor today welcoming the new members of the Senate and calling on the President to work with both Republicans and Democrats to find solutions to the fiscal crisis:
“I want to begin by welcoming all the new members who are here today, Republican and Democrat. Congratulations on your victories, and welcome to the Senate. I assure you: it’s not as terrible a job as they say it is. We welcome your ideas, your energy, and your enthusiasm. And we wish you every success in your time here.
“I also want to congratulate the President and Vice President once again on their own hard-fought victory last week. And I’d like to say just a brief word of thanks to our own nominees as well, Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan. They may not have won the race, but they earned our respect and admiration in the effort. They fought valiantly for the cause of limited government, free enterprise, opportunity for all, and a stronger social safety net that’s there when people need it most.
“In short, they fought for the kind of constitutional conservatism so many Americans believe in so strongly. And their loss does nothing to diminish the importance of these enduring principles, or our commitment to keep fighting for them. So we thank them, and their families, for making the sacrifices any presidential campaign demands. And I want to assure everyone: the cause goes on.
“Now, onto the task at hand.
“In politics, there is always a temptation among those who win office to think they have a mandate to do what they will. But it’s important to remember that in this case the voters also re-elected a Republican-controlled House last week, and a closely divided Senate. And in a government of three equal branches, that’s hardly irrelevant.
“Most people may focus on the White House, but the fact is, the government is organized no differently today than it was after the Republican wave of 2010.
“Look out across the heartland, and you’ll see vast regions of the country wary of the President’s vision for the future. The country is sharply divided about the right path forward. If the President wants to unite America, as he has always claimed to, if he truly realizes that he was elected to represent all of its citizens, not just the ones who voted to give him a second term last Tuesday, then he’ll seek the common ground he avoided so strenuously in his first term.
“That’s his task. That’s the duty that comes with being President.
“I hope that in this term he rises to the challenge. It starts by realizing he’s the only man in America who can sign a piece of legislation into law, and that while the voters may have given him a second term, they’ve also given those of us in Congress the power and the duty to ensure that he uses that power wisely. And that’s what we intend to do.
“The campaign is over. The time for slogans and pep rallies is passed. If the President is really serious about solving current crises and avoiding future ones, he has to step up and lead.
“So let me be clear: when it comes to the great economic challenges of the moment, saying that you want a balanced approach is not a plan. Saying people need to pay their fair share isn’t a plan. The tedious repetition of poll-tested talking points is simply that. And the longer the President uses them as a substitute for leadership, the more difficult it will be to solve our problems.
“The President needs to lead. And that means offering a concrete plan that takes into account the fact that half the Congress opposes tax hikes. Not because we’re selfish or stubborn. But because we know it’s the wrong thing to do, because we know it will hurt the economy and destroy jobs.
“This isn’t partisan politics. It’s economics. As the President might say, it’s math.
“According to a recent, independent non-partisan study, raising tax rates on top earners, as the President has proposed, would destroy over 700,000 jobs. It would slow the economy, meaning less revenue would come into the Treasury. As a result, it wouldn’t do much to reduce the deficit, even if Democrats actually followed through and used it for that purpose.
“Think about it: the amount of revenue for which they’re prepared to push us over the fiscal cliff wouldn't fund the government for a week. So why in the world would we want to do it? What’s the point? To make people feel good about whacking somebody else? That’s not what we were sent here to do. That’s certainly not what the people of Kentucky sent me here to do. That’s not how you set economic policy — because it makes you feel good. You set economic policy because you think it will lead to investment here in America, create jobs, and give more people an opportunity to lift up themselves up, boosting middle-class incomes now and ensuring security for the future.
“This is the kind of vision that Speaker Boehner laid out for the country last week. And I can’t think of any good reason why the President wouldn’t embrace it.
“Some on the other side have said we should just go off the cliff, and just hope for the best.
“I don’t think that’s what the American people had in mind when they went to the polls last week. I think what they had in mind is that we put the staring contests of the past two years behind us, and work it out. The best way forward, the way that will lead to jobs and growth, a smaller deficit, and fewer political fights, is to keep everybody’s tax rates right where they are for now, figure out a way to avoid the automatic defense cuts scheduled to hit at the end of the year without cutting a penny less than we promised, and committing to the kind of comprehensive tax and entitlement reform next year that we all claim to want. A simpler tax code that lowers rates and clears out certain deductions and special interest loopholes would trigger economic growth, create jobs, and result in more revenue without raising anyone’s rates. We know this because we’ve seen it before. It works.
“Personally, I don’t think Washington should get any of that extra revenue. I don’t think we need it. As I’ve said many times before, Washington’s problem isn’t that it taxes too little, but that it spends too much. But in a good faith effort to make progress on boosting the economy and government’s long-term solvency, Republicans like me have said for more than a year now that we’re open to new revenue in exchange for meaningful reforms to the entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our debt, so that we can reduce the deficit, protect these programs for today’s seniors, and strengthen them for future generations.
“In other words, we’d do it if we thought we could make progress in creating more middle-class jobs and address what is by far the single biggest obstacle to fiscal balance. This is the basic outline of a plan, and it reflects our seriousness as a party.
“So make no mistake: Republicans are offering bipartisan solutions. Now it’s the President's turn.
“It’s his turn to demonstrate similar seriousness, bring his party to the table, and take the lead.
“We’re ready to find common ground on revenue not, as I said, because any of us actually thinks that the government needs even more of it, but because Democrats from the President on down have said they’re willing to punish everyone if they don’t get it. And we’re not about to let that happen. But we’re also not about to further weaken the economy by raising tax rates and hurting jobs.
“Look: this shouldn’t be that difficult. Recent history gives us two examples of Presidents who solved big problems by finding ground with the other side. Ronald Reagan did it with a Democratic-led House after a far more resounding second-term victory that President Obama’s, as did Bill Clinton with a Republican-controlled House after a more resounding second-term victory than President Obama’s.
“Both examples illustrate the rare opportunity that divided government presents.
“President Obama can follow suit, or he can take the extremist view that both Reagan and Clinton rejected, by thumbing his nose at the other side and insisting that if Republicans aren’t willing to do things his way, he won’t do anything at all.
“If the President’s serious, he’ll follow the lead of Presidents Reagan and Clinton. If he’s really serious, he’ll put the campaign rhetoric aside, propose a realistic solution that can pass a Republican-controlled House and a divided Senate, and work to get it done. And if the President acts in this spirit, I have no doubt that he’ll have the support of his own party and a willing partner in ours. And the American people will breathe a sigh of relief, knowing not only that we’ve avoided a crisis, but that Washington can still serve their interests.
"Unless we act, in a few short weeks Americans will face a combination of defense cuts and automatic tax hikes that threaten to plunge us in another recession and undermine our national defense.
“This looming crisis is made worse by the backdrop of a massive federal debt that we’ll never be able to tackle as long as Democrats refuse even the smallest of reforms to strengthen and protect the entitlement programs that are driving it.
“That’s why Republicans have remained firm on this point: any serious solution, must include real spending cuts and meaningful entitlement reforms, to strengthen and protect these programs for future generations. We got into this mess because we promised cuts that never materialized, and because we couldn’t muster the will to match entitlements with changing demographics.
“We’re not going to get out of it until we agree to do both, together.
“Republicans have reached out, made offers beyond our preferred approach in an effort to attract bipartisan solutions. Meanwhile, all we get from Democrats are letters saying they won’t even consider reforming the very programs that lie at the heart of our fiscal imbalance.
“Instead of a showing faith and a willingness to solve the problem, we get the same tired talking point — that we can’t cut our way to prosperity. Well, that may poll well. But it isn’t a plan. It’s a cliché that’s meant to shut down debate and prevent a serious proposal from ever taking shape.
“How do we get around the stalemate? That’s simple: presidential leadership. We will arrive at a plan when the President presents one. Or we won’t get anywhere at all.
“That’s how we get out of this jam. That’s what the moment requires. It’s the President’s move.
“There’s no question we can avert these job-killing tax hikes before they strike and replace the defense portion of the so-called sequester with cuts of equal size in areas that both sides already agreed to during last summer’s debt limit negotiations.
“We can do all of it in the weeks ahead, with a promise to do even bigger things next year. And that’s exactly what we should do. This is one of those moments where the only thing standing between success and failure is presidential leadership, and that’s why we’re calling on the President to seize the moment and do something he hasn’t done before, but which successful predecessors have so often done before.
“We’re calling on him to lead, to take the initiative, propose a plan that’s actually designed to succeed. And if he does, I’m confident he’ll find he has more Republican friends over here than he thought. I’m not asking the President to agree with us on the proper role of government or the dangers of a creeping regulatory state. I’m not asking him to adopt our principles. I’m simply asking him to respect our principles by not insisting that we compromise them. Because we won’t.
“But we’ll happily work with him on a plan to avert the coming crisis, and lay the groundwork for further successes down the road. The campaign is behind us. Let’s get this done.”