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McConnell: Faulty Numbers Won’t Pay the Bills

March 11, 2008



‘Democrats are counting on a direct deposit from a job they never completed…We need to think again—or the family budget is going to shrink to make up for the red ink in Washington’s budget’



Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday regarding the Democrats’ proposal to pay for billions of dollars in new spending by closing the “tax gap” and other budget gimmicks:



“After reviewing the budget proposed by the other side of the aisle, one thing is clear: the people who wrote it were more interested in growing the size and scope of Washington spending than in growing the American family's budget. Americans expect more from government than a $1.2 trillion tax hike and billions of dollars in new spending, especially in these difficult economic times.



“But even with a giant tax hike, the new spending in this budget isn’t really accounted for. Democrats say they want to ‘pay for’ massive spending by—among other gimmicks—closing what they like to refer to as the ‘tax gap.’ This is the gap that exists between what people actually owe in taxes and what they pay.



“Well, we need only look back at last year to see that Congress hasn't been very successful in attempting to close the ‘tax gap.’ In 2007 Congress passed the Democrat Budget Resolution which promised to reduce the tax gap by $300 billion over 5 years. Unfortunately, this promise was never followed-up on with actual legislation to make it law — and no progress was made. In other words, Democrats are counting on a direct deposit from a job they never completed. That doesn’t work in the family budget and it shouldn’t work in the federal budget.



“While Congress did enact a few — A FEW—of the tax gap proposals included in the President’s 2008 Budget, those amounted to only a tiny fraction of the tax gap — hardly enough to rely upon for offsetting the billions of dollars in new spending Democrats are proposing. As the ranking member of the Finance Committee reminded the Senate yesterday, the promises didn’t come close to matching reality: During the first year of this Democrat majority the enacted tax-gap provisions amounted to two-tenths of one percent of the tax gap. Two-tenths of one percent. That’s 99.8 percent short of the promised revenue. That’s hundreds of billions of dollars short of the revenue they projected to pay for their new Washington spending. That’s not even close, not even in the same ballpark.



“There are serious disagreements between the parties on taxes. The other side supports higher rates. We want to keep tax rates low. But we should all agree that people have a responsibility to pay what they lawfully owe.



“Over and over again the Democrat majority has failed to enact any sort of serious and substantial strategy for closing the tax gap. And as a result, their numbers simply don’t add up. Faulty numbers don’t pay the bills, and funds that aren’t collected won’t shrink the deficit.



“So if the budget written by our friends across the aisle is going to rely on these funds to balance the budget, we need to think again—or the family budget is going to shrink to make up for the red ink in Washington’s budget.”



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Pulling Back the Curtain on the Democrat Budget

March 10, 2008



‘This budget is not the answer Americans have been looking for. It’s a cliché.’



Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Monday regarding Democrats’ tax-and-spend budget proposal:



“Last week our friends on the other side pulled back the curtain on their budget proposal, and taxpayers all across America groaned. It wasn’t pretty: The Democrats propose to increase discretionary spending above the $1 trillion mark for the first time ever. And to pay for it, they want to increase taxes — by a lot. The largest tax hike in history.



“The timing, of course, could not be worse. At a time when Americans are seeing record gas prices, falling home values, and higher healthcare and tuition costs, the other side sees higher taxes and more spending. Rather than offer a plan to address the concerns of the day, they offer a plan to make those costs harder to meet inside the limits of the family budget.



“At a time of heightened economic worry, our friends plan for America is for families to keep less of their money and insist that government spends more. And the effect of all this on U.S. families would be crushing. Under the Democrat budget, the average American family would see their annual tax bill go up by $2,300 a year. Nearly 20 million seniors would see their tax bill go up by more than $2,000 a year. And 8 million low-income workers would be added to the tax rolls.



“At a time of increased economic concern, Democrats want the average American family to have $2,300 less for the family budget under their plan. That’s enough money to pay for an entire year’s worth of gas for two cars. It’s about what the average American family with two kids spends on healthcare in nine months. It’s also enough to buy eight months worth of groceries.



“The average American family would suffer a lot under this plan. Consider a family in Kentucky that’s just starting to think about college for a new baby. If that family took the $2,300 that Democrats are asking for in new taxes and invested it each year in a tax-free college savings account, they’d have nearly $75,000 for college by the time that child was ready to attend school.



“This budget is not the answer Americans have been looking for. It’s a cliché. When faced with a challenge, Democrats always answer with a simple three-word response: Tax and Spend. And this year is no different.



“American families and their children are the ones who lose out under this tax and spend plan. Democrats promise to pay for spending, but make families pay instead. They promised middle-class tax relief last year, but did nothing to enact it. They promise to reduce the debt, but increase it instead. And they promise to address long-term entitlement spending, but only make the problem worse with higher taxes and more spending.



“Over the last 25 years, Republican economic policies have lifted tens of millions of working families into the middle-class. We did it through lower taxes, controlled spending, and keeping our defenses strong.



“Democrats know these policies worked. That’s why, as we began this Congress, many Democrats assured voters they would not raise taxes on working class and middle-class voters. Well, this budget certainly fell short of that mark.



“The proposed tax hike the Democrats sent down last week is four times bigger than one in 1993 that even President Clinton said was too big for Americans — and, ultimately, even for him. How can Democrats think the American people will accept this one? Do they think Americans want to see the gains of the last six years washed away by a budget that reinstates every tax we’ve lowered or repealed over that period?



“Budget Week is always a clarifying time of year on Capitol Hill. And what the other side’s budget makes clear, once again, is that our friends on the other side are more concerned about growing the size and scope of Washington spending, while we want to grow the family’s budget. At a time of great economic uncertainty, Americans expect more from government than a $1.2 trillion tax hike and billions of dollars in new spending.



“This budget spends more than $775 billion from the Social Security surplus. It increases gross debt by more than $2 trillion. It increases the deficit by almost $400 billion. And it completely ignores the question of where we are going to get the money to pay for $66 trillion in promised entitlements — this, despite the fact that the Democratic Chairman of the Budget Committee has explicitly said we need to reform entitlement programs.



“Republicans made a pledge last year to fight tax increases and rein in spending. We stuck by that pledge last year. In these difficult economic times, we will certainly stick by it this year. With this budget, Democrats want to spend more from Washington and raise your taxes to pay for it.



“I for one will vote to allow our families to keep more of what they earn so they can decide how to spend it.”



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House Democrats Face Two Choices: Responsible FISA Passage or Further Delay

March 7, 2008

‘Our forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will not be leaving their units for spring break. The House should not recess for theirs until they have voted on the Senate’s bipartisan FISA reform legislation’



Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Friday regarding the need for House Democratic Leadership to allow a vote on the bipartisan Senate-passed FISA bill:



“Nearly an entire year has passed since the nonpartisan Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Mike McConnell, warned Congress that America’s electronic surveillance law was dangerously out of date and in critical need of repair. The old law was causing us to miss substantial amounts of intelligence on terrorist suspects overseas, and it needed to be fixed. Yet nearly a year later the problem has still not been resolved. For no good reason, the dangers posed by the old law remain.



“The Senate has done its part to correct the problem. Last month, we passed a broadly bipartisan bill that fixed the outdated FISA law as well as the temporary bill that replaced it in August. The only thing now standing in the way of intelligence officials having all the tools they need to monitor terrorists is the House Democrat Leadership, which is blocking the will of its majority by refusing to vote on the Senate-passed version of the bill.



“The House Leadership’s actions are irresponsible. Worse, they are dangerous. When a temporary, six-month revision of the FISA bill expired last month, House leaders said they needed 15 days to deliberate over a new revision that included legal protections for phone companies that stepped forward after 9/11 to help in the hunt for terrorists. When those 15 days were up, House Democrats said they needed three more weeks. And then they left town for vacation without acting — despite the urgent pleas of the Director of National Intelligence not to leave the bill undone.



“Now, three weeks after House Democrat leaders said they needed three weeks to work out their concerns, they are getting ready to go on vacation without acting again — this time, a two-week spring break.



“The patience of the American People is wearing thin. It is long passed time for the Democrat Leadership in the House to do its part. They face a simple choice: either take up the Senate-passed bipartisan bill that is guaranteed to pass their chamber and be signed into law, or go on another vacation, leaving intelligence agents without the tools they need and America more vulnerable to terrorist attack.



“Some cynics in the House think there’s a third option. They want to pass a new bill that sounds acceptable, but which they know won’t be signed into law. This is a distinction without a difference. Passing a bill that will not become law is no better than passing no bill at all.



“Some news reports, quoting senior Democrat aides, have suggested that a stalemate on the surveillance issue is helpful to both sides politically. This should offend anyone who takes America’s security seriously. And it is refuted by the 68 members of the U.S. Senate — Democrat and Republican — who voted last month to put the recommendations of the Director of National Intelligence into law.



“The Senate’s solid, bipartisan action followed months of hard work between the two parties on a bill that met three basic criteria: it allowed intelligence professionals to gather information from terrorists overseas; it protected companies that stepped forward in a time of urgent national need to cooperate in the hunt for terrorists; and it was guaranteed to be signed by the President.



“If the House Democrat Leadership acts responsibly, it will follow the same three criteria by sending a good bill to the White House before the end of next week. The most efficient path to success is to take up the Senate-passed bill, which a majority of House members support.



“The time for action has long passed. Democrats have had nearly a year to address this problem. Again and again they have asked for extensions, then failed to act once the deadline ran out. They are like students who continually put off their homework, then ask the teacher for more time, hoping that the final deadline will never come. The actions of the House Democratic Leadership make their purpose clear: if they had their way, an improved surveillance law would never pass in the only manner that is acceptable to the Director of National Intelligence.



“It’s not too late for the House to do what’s right. They have a full legislative week ahead to allow a simple up or down vote on the Senate bill. Our forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan will not be leaving their units for spring break. The House should not recess for theirs until they have voted on the Senate’s bipartisan FISA reform legislation. To do anything less would be grossly irresponsible.”



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