Providing for Further Consideration of H. Con. Res. 376, Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2007
PROVIDING FOR FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF H. CON. RES. 376, CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 17, 2006)
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Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, I am sure my colleagues are familiar with the Kenny Rogers song which says you have to know when to hold and know when to fold. I sure would like to be in a poker game with the Republican moderates. They fold before they even see their cards. They got nothing out of this budget deal, and they are going to tell us how wonderfully they did. It is nothing but a promise, and it will be a promise that is not kept.
My colleague from Florida talks about the bottomless pit of spending. Talking about bottomless pits, let us talk about $8 billion in subsidies to the oil industry. Let us talk about another $7 billion in a windfall and not having them pay a royalty tax for the oil they take out of the ground. We just waived it for all of them. And they get a prescription drug bill which has nothing but massive subsidies for the pharmaceutical industry and for the insurance industry. That is where the bottomless pit is.
And you have a tax cut bill, $70 billion, and you cannot find it in your heart to do something for low-income families? I can tell you what people in this country don't know; that if you make $11,000 or less, you are not eligible for a child tax credit. But we see that some of the wealthiest people in this Nation get one very, very big tax break.
Let us take a look at what happened between last week and this week when the majority failed to muster the votes on the budget. Are we no longer staring down the barrel of a $2.2 billion in education cuts, $8.6 billion in cuts to veterans services, and $18.1 billion in health care costs? That is exactly what we are looking at.
And I will tell you, we could pay for this budget's $3 billion shortfall in education, health and workforce training programs with that tax cut's $4.8 billion in breaks that helps corporations like GE and Citicorp increase their profits overseas.
You know, Republicans today are wondering why the American people have lost all faith in their leadership. The goal of the budget ought to be to benefit the common good. That may seem like a novelty to this Republican majority, but the country is crying out for that leadership.
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