Blog - The Difference is Priorities
Statement
Blog - The Difference is Priorities
by: Congressman Tim Ryan
I'd like to share some video with you from the floor, but first I want to explain whats happening. We are still debating the Labor-HHS Appropriations bill and I wanted to let you know what this fight is really about. This fight is about priorities. The fringe members who are fighting the investments we are trying to make in America want you to believe we are going to raise your taxes. They are still trying to scare you. The reality is this is about priorities.
The Republicans' misplaced priorities gave more tax cuts for the wealthy, more giveaways to the big oil companies, and more record deficits.
Republicans voted to protect more than $5 billion in oil industry giveaways.
In most recent Republican tax bill, most middle-class families will receive less than $30, while the average tax cut for millionaires is about $65,000.
Republicans turned President Clinton's projected 10-year $5.6 billion surplus into a nearly $3 trillion deficit.
America has borrowed more than $1 trillion for foreign governments and investors over the last five years, slightly more than the total we borrowed in the first 211 years. [Treasury Department]
Interest payments are growing faster than all other items in the Bush Administration budget.
America's total debt has climbed by more than 50 percent to more than $8 trillion.
The income for middle-class families has dropped $1,669 or nearly 4 percent under the Bush Administration. [CPS, 8/05]
Republicans are crowing about the economy, while millions of American families are living paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet, and going deeper in debt.
Now let me show you what the Labor-HHS bill does.
Invests another $3.3B for student aid
Increases the maximum Pell award by $650 to $4,700
Helps over 5.5M low- and middle-income students
Invests additional $1B for No Child Left Behind programs
Provides $800M for special education grants
Adds $1.3B to improve healthcare access
Serves an additional 1M uninsured Americans by providing $200M for community health centers
Need I say more?
Source