Klobuchar Sounds Alarm on Republicans' Fiscal Mismanagement

Klobuchar Sounds Alarm on Republicans' Fiscal Mismanagement

Good morning. This week, the talk in Washington is about our nation's growing debt. Since Mark Kennedy and the Bush Administration took office five years ago, our national debt has increased by $2.5 trillion. Yesterday, a headline in one of our local papers' screamed that "no one is sounding the alarm" in Washington about our rising debt.
Here in Minnesota we have a history of talking about problems when no one else will - standing up against special interests, taking on tough fights, and making bold decisions. Today, I want to make it clear, that as a candidate for U.S. Senate, I understand the severity of this problem. We are saddling our children with an enormous burden. I want to sound the alarm to the people in Washington that we need common sense solutions to bring fiscal responsibility back to Congress.
For the past week, Republicans in Congress have talked about how to manage our rising national debt, but today we know that's just talk. Republicans in the Senate had an opportunity to crack-down on this credit card mentality by reinstating the Pay-As-You-Go rules, but voted no. Our country's debt grows larger everyday while Republicans consistently avoid every opportunity to get our financial house in order.
We need to bring fiscal responsibility back to Washington. The 50 Republican Senators who voted against returning to Pay-As-You-Go budgeting bear a special responsibility in our rising debt - they should begin to make amends by returning their pay raises and agreeing to no more raises until the budget is balanced.
In four years, we've had to increase our nation's credit card limit three times. With the budget deficit expected to grow to 400 billion dollars for both this year and next, we'll almost undoubtedly have to increase the limit again. Republicans are not getting the job done in Washington.
We need common-sense solutions to get our country's financial future under control. This credit-card mentality of the Republican leadership has got to go.
First, we need to return to pay-as-you-go budgeting that the 50 Republican senators dismissed so handily this week. If Congress wants to do more spending, fine, but show us how you're going to pay for it. They want an additional tax cut - not until you show us where the money comes from. During the Clinton administration Congress used this rule to balance the budget and produce surpluses. We need to do it again.
Second, we need to crackdown on discretionary spending. According to the Cato Institute, discretionary spending has increased by almost 50 percent since President Bush took office. We need to stop spending money we don't have, on projects we don't need, like the bridge to nowhere in Alaska, or the indoor rainforest in Iowa.
Third, we need to lift the ban on negotiations with prescription drug companies. According to some estimates, we could save as much as 90 billion dollars a year if we lifted the ban. The Medicare bill was nothing but a Christmas present to the prescription drug companies. We need to start putting people first in Washington - not corporate special interests like giant pharmaceutical companies and big oil.
Fourth, we need to roll back the tax cuts on people making more than 200,000 dollars per year. I recently read that for families making more than $1 million per year, taxes went down at a rate ten times more than the middle class. Yesterday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley said that 30 percent of the debt limit increases since President Bush took office are due to tax cuts. This is nearly one third of our debt. Rolling back the tax cuts for the wealthiest is a good first step.
Fifth, we need to close tax loopholes that let U.S. companies set up paper corporations in Bermuda to avoid paying taxes. Most corporations are law-abiding, responsible, and willing to pay taxes to keep this country strong. When even one corporation shifts its profits overseas and avoids paying taxes, however, everyone else has to pick up that part.
Finally, not only should the 50 Republican Senators who voted against the return to pay-as-you-go budgeting forgo their pay raises and agree to vote against further pay increases, the rest of Congress should join them. Congress shouldn't reap the benefits of a job undone. No more pay raises for members of Congress until the budget is balanced. We must make Washington more accountable to the public. Minnesota families can't run their finances like this and the federal government shouldn't be allowed to either. We need leaders in Congress who don't just talk about solutions, but take action and get results.

http://amyklobuchar.com/media/speeches/repbulican-fiscal-mismanagement.html