Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

DEFICIT REDUCTION ACT OF 2005 -- (Extensions of Remarks - November 18, 2005)

* Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, some of the cuts proposed in this ``Deficit Reduction Act'' include Medicaid, student loans, child support enforcement, child foster care, supplemental security income, farm conservation, and many more.

* Republicans have offered over $50 billion in cuts to much needed programs for America's families. The pretext of the these program cuts is to bring down the deficit, but all they do is offset the cost of a $56.6 billion tax cut package that will come to the floor of the House soon. Do not be misled into believing that the budget cuts being contemplated are to cover the cost of rebuilding the Gulf Coast states. They are being used to offset the raid that is taking place on the Treasury.

* The Republicans are employing a two-pronged strategy for this fiscal charade. Today they want us to vote on $50 billion in spending cuts and later they will ask us to vote on a $50 billion tax cut for the wealthiest top one-tenth of one percent of Americans. It is their hope that the American people will not see the connection between the two actions. Show the people that you are cutting spending on one hand; then cut taxes for your supporters with the other. That is their game. I am appalled the Republicans will cut programs for children, the hungry, the sick and the vulnerable for tax cuts to the healthiest and wealthiest Americans.

* Since 2001, the Republicans have done an excellent job of spinning their tax cut packages. They said we could have it all: Medicare prescription drug coverage, the War on Terrorism, huge tax cuts, and still produce budget surpluses as far as the eye can see. It is a great pitch, but there is only one hitch to their argument: it did not happen that way. Now Republicans are doing all they can to dodge the responsibility for the fiscal situation in which the country now finds itself. In fact, the President and my Republican colleagues take pride that last year's budget deficit was $320 billion, the third largest deficit in history. They take it as a record of accomplishment that the deficit was not higher. Now that is spin. Last year's deficit may be lower than the $412 billion deficit reached in fiscal year 2004, but that hardly entitles the Republicans to bragging rights over their fiscal stewardship. Under their leadership, a Republican president and Republican Congress have produced a string of record setting budget deficits.

* By bringing this bill to the floor, the folk on the other side of the aisle have the temerity to say that the program cuts being recommended will offset the cost of added spending for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. That argument is not even close to the truth. That is budgeteering by Merlin the Magician. I hope the American people will be able to look behind the curtain of their arguments and see them for what they are: simply a means to hide from their record of fiscal irresponsibility.

* The President and the Republican majority are adept. Record deficits? Not the fault of the party in power. Blame 9/11, or blame the economy, or blame Katrina, or blame Saddam Hussein and Iraq, or blame the terrorists, or blame whatever. Just do not blame the Republicans or the Republican tax cuts for the horrible financial situation our country is in. That is the gist of the Republican message we hear today.

* For a President and a party that is artful in avoiding blame for the country's fiscal state, for the failure to execute a successful war strategy in Iraq, the failure to respond rapidly during Hurricane Katrina, the failure to catch Osama bin Laden, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, the failure to provide affordable energy, the failure to hire competent people to handle crises, the failure to prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic, for all the failures that have occurred on the watch of this President and this Republican Congress, can there be little reason why they want to avoid the ``blame game?''

* We can do better. There is no reason why we freely spend to rebuild Baghdad but struggle to rebuild Biloxi. When it comes to taking care of our own, where is the parity? Why are we applying a tougher standard on our own than we are in Afghanistan and Iraq? The budget cuts that will be triggered under this bill violates the principle of parity, it puts the welfare of others ahead of our own American people. This budget is symbolic of the spending priorities of this administration: It puts America and Americans last. That is a shame and that is why this bill does not deserve our support. I strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting down this unfortunate bill.

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