The Deficit
THE DEFICIT -- (House of Representatives - September 10, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WELCH of Vermont. I thank my friend, Representative Sutton. This evening gives us an opportunity to take account, to look at the record, and reveal it to the American people. We are in a season close to an election, where the American people are going to have to make a decision, and it's going to be an extraordinarily consequential decision. In the fog of a campaign, there's an awful lot of rhetoric back and forth, where those who have not done much try to conceal it with claims that they did, and try to shoot down the progress that has been made.
Now we all know that when we get going, and we are going to solve our problems, it's going to have to be working together. We have been doing our best to do that. But what we have to do tonight is lay out what the record has been.
What I want to talk about briefly are two areas; one is deficit, to continue what my friend, Representative Sutton was talking about, and the other is on Iraq. The reason I want to talk about them specifically is because it is important for the American people to know what they can expect from our friends on the other side who have a clear record, and it is one that they are accountable for, but it has to be one that Americans are aware of.
On deficits, taking up on what you said, let me just read some quotes from
[Page: H7996]
members of the administration to remind the American people of what was promised, and then lay out some facts about what actually was done.
``Our budget will run a deficit that will be small and short term.'' George Bush, in January of 2003. ``We can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits even if the economy softens. Projections for the surplus in my budget are cautious and conservative.'' George Bush, March 27, 2001.
``We are holding down government spending and reforming government, and the good news is the deficit is coming down.'' OMB Director Jim Nussle, June 22, 2006. ``I don't like deficits, I don't want deficits, and I won't pretend deficits don't matter.'' OMB Director Jim Nussle, March 12, 2003.
``Today's announcement by President Bush confirms that the pro-growth economic policies put in place by Republicans are working as planned to spur economic growth and reduce the deficit. Republicans are meeting our commitments to the American taxpayers by exercising fiscal restraint in promoting economic policies this create jobs, all efforts which have produced a strong economy that is working to drive down and eventually eliminate our deficit.'' John Boehner, October 11, 2006.
What are the facts? That is the rhetoric. What are the facts? President Bush and congressional Republicans, his allies, have turned a projected 10-year, 10-year surplus of $5.6 trillion into a projected 10-year deficit of $3.4 trillion. That is a swing of $9 trillion in one Presidency. When President Bush took office, there was a projected surplus of $710 billion for fiscal year 2009.
President Bush's budget will create a $407 billion deficit for fiscal year 2009. That is a swing of over $1 trillion.
Under the Bush administration, Republicans created the five largest--one, two, three, four, five--five largest budget deficits in American history, $378 billion, $413 billion, $318 billion, $407 billion, and $438 billion now projected.
The first 42 Presidents, the first 42 American President's, borrowed a total of $1 trillion. That was during wars, by the way; World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, combined. That is the total amount borrowed from foreign governments and financial institutions.
In the 7 1/2 years of the Bush Presidency, President Bush has borrowed more than $1.6 trillion. He borrowed more in 7 1/2 years than 42 Presidents did in over 100 years of our history.
When President Bush took office, we had a national debt that was $5.7 trillion. During his administration, that has nearly doubled, and will reach $10.3 trillion by the end of fiscal year 2009.
This administration has presided over a fiscal train wreck, and it is creating obviously a deep hole that we have to climb out of, the American people have to climb out of, and it's a record of rhetoric of rosy fiscal scenarios with reckless policies that have caused, in a short time, 7 1/2 years, the greatest explosion in the debt of the United States government, which belongs to you and me and the generations that will come after us, that we are going to have to repay, and it will take generations to do.
I will yield back my time to the gentlelady from Ohio.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Well, I do have something to add. I just want to go back to the question of Foreign Affairs and the war in Iraq, and I want to do what I did the last time when I was talking about the debt, which is to lay out some of the explicit statements and promises that the administration made about this war and then lay out what the specific results have been. It's important. It's vitally important that the people of this country compare promises to results. This war, in my view, has been a catastrophe, but here is what top officials in the Bush administration said:
``It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last 6 days, 6 weeks, I doubt 6 months,'' Donald Rumsfeld, February 2003, a month before the war.
``There's a lot of money to pay for this that doesn't have to be U.S. taxpayer money, and it starts with the assets of the Iraqi people. We're dealing
[Page: H7999]
with a country that can really finance its own reconstruction and relatively soon,'' Paul Wolfowitz, former Deputy Defense Secretary, March of 2003.
Of course, our friend from Florida has outlined the truth that the Iraqi money is in U.S. banks. Treasury money is going over to Iraq to finance things.
``My belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators,'' Vice President Dick Cheney. How bright he was, yes. March 16, 2003.
``It's hard to conceive that it would take more forces to provide stability in post-Saddam Iraq than it would to take to conduct the war, itself, and to secure the surrender of Saddam's security forces and his army. Hard to imagine,'' Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.
``I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority,'' President George Bush, Commander in Chief, March 2002.
``If we're an arrogant Nation, they'll resent us. If we're a humble Nation but strong, they'll welcome us [in Iraq],'' George Bush.
We know the facts. The war in Iraq has now lasted longer than the U.S. involvement in World War II. Four thousand one hundred fifty-five Americans have been killed in Iraq, and more than 30,000 troops have been wounded as of September 7 of this year. No weapons of mass destruction were ever found. That was the whole pretext that George Bush used to justify this war.
More than $600 billion has been spent, none of it on the books incidentally, all on the credit card. Some projections estimate that the war, when all of the expenses are paid, including what we have to pay to provide health care to our seriously injured soldiers, will exceed $3 trillion.
The Iraqi Government has now forced the Bush administration to accept something that many of us have been arguing for four years, a timetable. It took the President of Iraq to force the President of the United States to get real and to understand that what we can expect of the American taxpayer and what we can expect of the American soldier has its limits and that it's time to start asking the Iraqis to step up and to take on the burden of their own future.
America's military is stretched thin. There is just no dispute about this. It weakens our ability to respond to other threats. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Michael Mullen, has stressed that the need for more troops in Afghanistan is great, but due to the war in Iraq, they're not available. The Bush administration has grossly neglected Afghanistan and has failed to acknowledge that that is a major threat.
These are promises, the cavalier disregard for the hidden consequences, the consequences beyond your control when you embark on a war, on a thoughtless war, and disregard the need to build up alliances like George Bush's father did in the first Gulf war, and you cavalierly go off with promises, reckless promises, irresponsible promises by people in positions of great trust. The greatest trust that they have is that they have a duty to use due deliberation in the protection of the lives of the American people and of the American soldiers. They have to use due deliberation, careful thought, responsible analysis in committing American power abroad and in committing the lives of our soldiers abroad. They cavalierly made predictions. Vice President Cheney will go down in history as just having been totally out of touch.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source