American Families Plan
Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. First, I would like to associate myself with the remarks from the Senator from Iowa, who very clearly stated the problems that people all across the country are facing. I love the line about we can't even claim the government as a dependent because the government truly is dependent upon the people of this great country.
Tax day is just a few days away so I come to the floor to oppose the tax hikes proposed by President Biden. Today, tax revenues in America are at a near-record high of all times. We don't have a revenue problem; we have a spending problem. Yet President Biden wants to take more money out of the wallets of America's hard-working men and women.
How much is he calling for? Astonishingly, $3 trillion in additional taxes. This is on top of the taxes that are already being paid. It is the biggest tax increase in over half a century.
It is supposed to pay for a lot of liberal spending ideas. It is a big liberal agenda that this President is promoting. Yet even with these historic tax increases being proposed, our Nation will still need to continue to borrow money from China.
In just over 100 days, President Biden has already put $1.99 trillion on our Nation's credit card. Now he wants more. In total, President Biden's agenda would cost more than America's total commitment to World War II. Are these liberal spending proposals as important to our Nation as was our victory in World War II? Of course not.
As I have said before, our economy was already on track to be back to normal this summer. That was before President Biden passed his spending bill on a party-line vote crammed through the Senate after a middle-of- the-night debate, crammed through on a direct party-line vote using budget reconciliation.
President Biden has said--it is interesting, astonishing, and amusing to listen to the President when he says only the rich will have to pay these taxes. The American people have seen this movie before. We know as Americans that when we hear politicians say only the rich will pay, it is time to hold on to your wallet because they are coming for you.
Working families are going to pay in the form of higher prices, lower wages, and fewer job opportunities.
We are already seeing higher prices. We are seeing significant inflation since the day President Biden has taken office. We see it again today with the newest economic statistics that have come out. We hear about it at home on the weekends as we talk to folks at home about what is happening with their day-to-day life and their expenses.
Experts tell us that President Biden's tax hikes could destroy a million jobs--a million jobs. When Republicans cut taxes in 2017--and it is good to be here on the floor with my friend and colleague from Ohio who is one of the four horsemen who put that proposal together on behalf of the Republicans--revenue at the Federal Government actually went up. It is the same thing that happened when taxes were cut under President Coolidge and Kennedy and Reagan and George W. Bush.
If you cut taxes, there is more money in people's hands. They can do what they want to do with that money and make better decisions than the government. I think it is very important to let people keep more of their hard-earned money. They make better decisions than Washington, DC, does.
People can decide what they want to spend, what they want to save, what they want to invest, how much they want to donate. And all four of these are very good for our Nation. That means more jobs, more growth, and, ultimately, more tax revenue with more people working, even though each is paying less in taxes individually.
I have much more confidence when money is in the hands of the American people than I do when it is in the hands of the politicians in Washington, DC.
I would urge all of my colleagues to say: Stop these tax hikes. Stop this reckless spending. Let people keep more of their hard-earned money and make decisions for themselves.
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