Message of the Congressional Progressive Caucus

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I claim the time on behalf of the Congressional Progressive Caucus for this Special Order where we will deliver the Progressive message. The Congressional Progressive Caucus is that body of Members of Congress who come together to talk about those things that make America the wonderful country that it is, where we have equal opportunity, where we believe that all people, all colors, all cultures, all faiths, belong in America, where we believe that economic justice for the middle class is an important priority, where we believe health care is something that all Americans should be able to partake in, not just those who can afford it. Where we believe that poverty is something that our great country, our wealthy country, can eliminate if we muster the political will to do so. Where we come together as a caucus and say things like food stamps, income support for low-income people are good. They are a sign of the charitable hearts of Americans, and that there is nothing wrong with these important programs.

In the Progressive Caucus, we say that war is not the answer, that diplomacy is what America should be working for, that we should pursue diplomacy, that we should try to talk it out and not shoot it out, that the lives of our soldiers are so precious that we should never commit troops unless it is absolutely necessary to defend the Nation.

This is the Progressive Caucus, the progressive vision that says, yes, consumer justice is an important thing for Americans and that, yes, regulations that are rationally related to the health, safety and the fairness of our society are important. We don't say there is something wrong with taxes. We say taxes are those which are necessary to live in a civil society. They are the dues that we pay to live in a civilized society.

So this is the Progressive Caucus, which is in contrast to the other caucuses, some of which believe that rich people don't have enough money and that poor people have too much. That's not us. The Progressive Caucus stands for the great American middle class. It believes in eliminating poverty. It believes, as Martin Luther King did, that war is the enemy of the poor and that we should always strive for peace. It believes in the fact that our environment is a sacred gift, that we have to care for it, that we can't just pollute, pollute, pollute, and that we have to be environmental stewards. This is the Progressive Caucus.

Of course, the Progressive Caucus comes to you on Thursday nights to deliver the progressive message. So, tonight, we are going to be talking about taxes. The progressive message tonight is about taxes and taxation. In the next few days, I believe we're going to hear quite a bit about taxes and you're going to hear quite a bit from the Republican Caucus about taxes. They're going to tell you how absolutely necessary it is that Americans at the top 2 percent of the income scale actually, you know, get more money and how even they are willing to stand in the way of the middle class people getting tax cuts so that the top 2 percent can get some tax cuts. They are willing to hold hostage the tax cuts for middle class people, as we are just emerging from this recession, so that the top 2 percent can get a tax break. We are going to be talking about that tonight. That is the progressive message.

Let me just say, when the Republican Caucus says, You know what? We want to have tax cuts. We want to prevent all of the tax cuts from expiring, and we want to keep every tax cut for everybody, the Progressive Caucus says, You know, just for the middle class. The rich folks, they don't need any more tax breaks. Things are already going well for them.

The reality is the GOP plan is tax breaks for Donald Trump and Paris Hilton. Now, I'm not saying they're bad folks. They're good folks--maybe. I don't know them--but I can say they don't need a tax break. The fact is they probably need to pay more taxes. The fact is that the GOP plan is tax breaks for billionaires. Do you think that Donald Trump and Paris Hilton need a tax break? I don't think they do. I'll tell you, I think the regular citizens of my district in Minnesota need one. I think that those police and those firefighters need a tax cut. I think the people who work hard every day to make our country safe need some tax assistance, but I don't think the billionaires need a tax cut.

In fact, I think that those public employees who make sure our streets are safe, who make sure that the potholes are filled in, who make sure that they put the fires out when we're in danger, who teach our children, and those hardworking small business people may need a tax cut; but I don't think that Paris Hilton and Donald Trump need one. I think they'd be fine without one.

Here's the thing about it, Madam Speaker. These tax cuts for the top 2 percent that the Republican Caucus wants to continue will cost the American taxpayer $700 billion. You should also know, Madam Speaker, when the Bush tax cuts were implemented, they didn't set them up with offsets. They didn't find money somewhere else to reduce the budget in order to give these tax cuts. They just gave the tax cuts. The Democrats have a program in place called ``pay as you go,'' so we're not going to increase spending unless we reduce it elsewhere or unless, of course, it's an emergency. The Republicans didn't have that philosophy. They said, We're just going to give rich people more money because we think that rich people don't have enough money and the poor have too much money. So that's kind of how they do business. They won't tell you that, but that is their operating principle.

So my question, Madam Speaker, is quite simply this: Do we want tax breaks for billionaires, like I showed you in the picture a moment ago, Madam Speaker, or do we want them for teachers so that teachers can have a reasonable number of kids in their classrooms in order to teach them math, science, computers, and in order to teach them what they need to know to be equipped for a 21st-century economy? Public school teachers, now there are some hard workers for you.

Police officers are brave men and women who go out on the streets of this country to make folks safe every day. That's right, police officers. When the rest of us are running out of the building, they're running in the building. Police officers not only fight crime, but they also find people who are lost. They also do things like make sure they inform neighbors about who in the neighborhood is dangerous. Police officers do things like inform neighbors on how to set up a community watch so they can help police themselves. Police officers, I think they could use a tax break.

Firefighters are another group of first responders who run into burning buildings when all of us are trying to get out of there. They're brave men and women who are inhaling smoke, putting their own lives at risk and cutting short their health so that they can protect the rest of us. These folks, they could use some tax help. I don't know about the billionaires; but these folks, with all they do for us, yes, I would vote for a tax break for them in a minute.

Also, we need to save money and not give that 2 percent of tax breaks away to billionaires so that we can do more job training. We've got a green economy coming. It's already here, but we have a lot of people who don't know how to do those jobs. They don't know how to install a solar panel. They don't know how to install a windmill, and they don't know how to do weatherization to make our homes more energy efficient. They need to learn how to do it, so we should use that money that the Republicans want to give to the billionaires and put it into some job training so some young people and maybe not so young people can learn skills that will help them feed their families in the 21st century.

Small business investment: we need to get small businesses back engaged. They are the number one employers in this country. About 70 percent of all Americans work for small businesses. The fact is that these small businesses are the engine for change. Why don't we talk about giving them some help? Why don't we think about making sure that they can retool, that they can get some new equipment and can get some inventory?

You know, I love the small businesses in my district. I like to go visit them. They're doing all kinds of great things. They are remanufacturing engines. They are doing things like fixing cars in small shops. They are restaurant owners. I went to a mail house the other day that does bulk mailing for people. They're doing all kinds of innovative things. They're making semiconductors. They're manufacturing. Let's help our small businesses, which are the engine for job growth.

Better schools. Clean energy. Health care. Infrastructure investment. Let's not give that $700 billion away to Donald Trump and Paris Hilton. Again, no personal cut on them. I'm sure they're fine people. Though, my point is: instead of giving it to those billionaires, wouldn't it be better to take that $700 billion and put in some roads and some bridges and to fix them and repair them?

In my State of Minnesota, we had a bridge fall down, and 13 people were killed. We need better infrastructure in America. Wouldn't it be better to take that $700 billion that the Republicans want to give to the billionaires and put it into infrastructure?

What about college affordability? As a father of two college-aged young people--one 22, a senior in college, and one 20, a sophomore in college--let me tell you that college is too expensive these days. Young people are running up debt. They go to college for 4 years, and they pay it off for 40 years. It's ridiculous. Wouldn't it be better if we took some of that $700 billion that the Republicans want to give to Donald Trump and Paris Hilton and put it into college affordability?

My question is: What are your priorities? Madam Speaker, I ask: What are your priorities?

The priorities should be teachers, police officers, firefighters, job training, small business investment, better schools, clean energy, health care, infrastructure, college affordability. These are the priorities of the Progressive Caucus. This is what we are going to fight for. This is what we believe in, not giving tax breaks to people who really don't need them.

While we're on the subject of taxes, it may surprise some people to know that it is the Democratic Caucus that voted in the stimulus bill to give 95 percent of all Americans a tax break. I think people are surprised because the political labeling that has taken place is
that, okay, Republicans are for tax breaks; Democrats are not. That's not true.

Democrats are for tax breaks for you, Madam Speaker, for the average American. Republicans are for tax breaks for Paris Hilton and Donald Trump. That's the difference. We want average Americans who work hard every day, who make things, who cut hair, who manufacture the goods, who work at those factory jobs, who do those jobs like fire, police, teaching, public works, we want those folks to have a tax break, but the Republicans want to have the top 2 percent have one. That's the difference.

Every congressional Republican voted against a tax cut for 95 percent of American families because all of them voted against the stimulus. All of them voted against it; therefore, not one of them voted for the average American family to get a little bit of help on their taxes. That's too bad.

I think it's important that as we begin this debate about tax cuts, that the American people, Madam Speaker, know who it is who wants to help them in this time when foreclosures are too high and when unemployment is so high. The American people have a right to know who is on their side and who is on the side of Donald Trump and Paris Hilton. Again, this is no personal cut on these guys. They might be fine folks, for all I know, but I know that the people who pick up the garbage, the people who give these young people a chance, who build those small startup technology firms, I know that those regular folks who are the small business people, the public employees, I know they need a tax cut. I'm not so sure about the top 2 percent. I think they're fine folks, but they don't need a tax cut.

Madam Speaker, I think another important fact for people to know is that Federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became President. That's according to Bruce Bartlett, who was the domestic policy advisor to President--guess who--Ronald Reagan. President Ronald Reagan's advisor said Federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became President. Why? Because Democrats have been lowering taxes for middle class people. We're not so much on lowering taxes for the richest Americans, but for people who need some tax breaks to get by, to put groceries on the table, to make it through the day, to make it through the week. We've been in favor of it. This is a fact and a quote from Bruce Bartlett, domestic policy advisor to Ronald Reagan: Federal taxes are very considerably lower by every measure since Obama became President. That's an important thing to know.

Finally, I get to my last board, Madam Speaker, then I'm going to make a few more remarks, and then we might wind up early. But I just wanted to say that folks are paying lower and fewer taxes under President Obama than under President Bush, and this is something that is very important for people to bear in mind.

I placed this board here because I know that you hear a lot of stuff, folks that are listening to Fox News, that are listening to Rush Limbaugh. They may think, oh, well, the Democrats are the tax-and-spend people. Not so. Only when you're talking about taxes for the richest Americans, which we believe everybody should pay, not as a punishment, but because if you don't pay taxes, who is going to pay for the military to protect this country? Who is going to pay for the police, the firefighters? Who is going to pay for the EMS workers? Who is going to pay for our public school teachers? You've got to pay some taxes. They're necessary for society to operate properly. And there is nothing wrong with them and they are not a punishment. If you use the roads, you use the security, you use the schools, you use the clean water, then you should say, well, yeah, this is what we've got to do.

My point is the Republicans only want to give tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and don't really think about what life is like for the middle class. But under President Obama, Americans have paid fewer taxes than under President Bush. You pay fewer taxes under President Obama than under President Bush--very important--although this may not apply to the wealthiest Americans.

And I just want to add, Madam Speaker, that some people think, you know, maybe Mr. Ellison is being mean to rich people. I'm really not. I think Americans who have been privileged and have been lucky and have been blessed to live in this great country, to open up a business, to do well, I think that's laudable. I think that's important. I think that's great. All I'm saying is, if this great country provides the protection from

foreign enemies for you to have your business, provides fire, police, security for you to run your business, if this great country provides you with clean water, clean air to run your business and thrive and grow, provides you with employees who were trained and educated at public schools, then don't tell me that you shouldn't have to help. This is an important fact for people to realize. And the Progressive Caucus, we're not ashamed to say that taxation is a good thing and that it ought to be fair, it ought to be just, it ought to be as low as possible, but it's not an evil and a punishment the way the Republican Caucus likes to present it.

Let me say, Madam Speaker, that the Republican plan is the same plan as it was under President Bush. They want to give welfare--that's welfare--to the wealthy and add trillions to the deficit. The Republican Caucus likes to talk about debt and deficits, yet they're willing to add $700 billion to the deficit by extending tax breaks to the richest Americans. They are cranking up their message machine to say this in the next several weeks and over the course of the next several months as well. It's important that Americans know the truth about taxes, and I think it's important that the American people know the truth about the debt and the deficit.

Republicans are going to say, oh, my goodness, we've got this massive, massive debt. We've got this massive deficit. They're going to say $1.4 trillion. But ask them how much of it is on Obama and how much of it is on them. About $1.3 trillion is on them. The Republicans, because of two wars that they never paid for, massive tax cuts that they never paid for, a giveaway to big pharmaceutical companies under Medicare part D that they didn't pay for, and they didn't even allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices with the pharmaceutical companies, that's why we have an enormous deficit. They are to blame for it. These guys, they want to run the deficit up, and then as soon as the American people put them out because they're not good with the economy, they want to blame the Democrats when they put us in the worst hole economically since the Great Depression.

Now, I don't blame the Republicans. I just say that they're not good at economics. I love Republicans--my dad is a Republican; he and I are great friends; we talk all the time; we argue a lot--but they're not good with the economy. They think that you can cut taxes and still get services. They don't understand that when you cut taxes, you can't get services. They think that when you cut taxes down below where you can meet the basic needs of society that you can still provide quality service that people need. They think that you can cut taxes and not end up with a deficit problem. They're just mistaken about that.

I think that the proof that their ideas have failed is the trouble that we saw ourselves in when President Obama took office. When President Obama took office, that month, January of 2009, that month this economy lost about 780,000 jobs. A few weeks before that, we had to vote on a bank bailout of proportions that we have not yet seen, $700 billion. This is because Republicans don't like regulation. They don't like rich people to have to follow the rules. They don't want rich people to have to pay taxes, and they don't even want to write rules for rich people to follow.

And so we ended up with a massive deficit which they created, which they blame Democrats for now. We ended up with 2.8 million foreclosures in America in the year 2009, and we ended up with catastrophic damage to our economy. And yet since the Democrats have come in, we've added private-sector jobs. We've been increasing jobs steadily even though the unemployment rate is still intolerably high, even though Democrats have to continue to put people back to work, and we're committed to that process, but Republicans still won't join in and help.

Democrats in Congress are standing with the middle class and small businesses to address major issues confronting our Nation and to take America in a new direction--creating good American jobs, providing tax relief for middle class and small businesses, closing loopholes that send jobs overseas, and building a strong foundation for the American economy.

As I said before, congressional Republicans are bringing back the economic and fiscal policies that were created during the Bush recession, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, with job losses of nearly 800,000 a month and nearly double our national debt.

Now the Republican caucus is even floating a plan to give permanent tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires while holding President Obama's tax cuts for the middle class hostage.

This is something that we shouldn't tolerate. This is something the American people have to rise up for. This is something I think, Madam Speaker, that the people of the United States need to say, Wait a minute. We can't let ourselves go back to them bad old days when the Republicans were killing jobs and driving up the deficit and running a very unfair, inequitable economy.

Republicans, when they've been asked, okay, if you do take back the House, what are you going to do? They say, We're going to do what we did to get you in the mess we did in the first place. I appreciate their honesty. But the fact is, this is not something that the American family can bear.

They want to repeal and privatize Social Security, Republicans want to cut benefits and jeopardize retirement security for American seniors and workers. Don't forget it was only a few years ago they wanted to take Social Security and gamble your Social Security money in the stock market. The American people rejected that idea. Think about what has happened to the stock market in the last few years and what would have happened if they would have been in charge and been able to get their plan through.

They say they want to repeal Wall Street reform. Now, we went through a huge process with Wall Street reform where we put consumers back in play to get some protection, where we brought accountability to large firms, where we brought the rating agencies under accountability. And yet Republicans want to repeal it.

The fact is is that the recklessness that the Republicans allowed Wall Street to deteriorate with led to the worst economic meltdown in generations, cost 8 million jobs, and cost $17 trillion--that's with a "T"--in household wealth, because even if you pay everything and never miss a mortgage payment or a rent payment, if somebody is foreclosed on your block, you just lost household wealth, even if you've been perfect in your payments.

So the fact is is that we can't allow the Republicans back in place. They want to repeal health care. And repealing health care would be particularly bad.

It's important for Americans to know that as of this date, as of September 23, health care is helping the middle class. Did you know that during the status quo, Madam Speaker, before we passed health care, that 60 percent--and this is a fact, please check it out--60 percent of all bankruptcy filings were due to medical debt. And most of these people had insurance. They just went over their lifetime limits or their annual limits. They just couldn't pay the deductibles, and they ended up snowballing, and they couldn't pay, and they ended up bankrupt because they got sick. There's something wrong with that. Democrats came together without any help from Republicans to change.

Now, people are a little nervous about things when they change. You go from one thing that you know, even if it's bad, to something that you don't know, even if it's probably good, and people just get a little nervous. They don't know what's going to happen. So I understand people being a little anxious.

But let me just remind people. Insurance companies will no longer be able to deny coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions as of now. Not in 2014. In 2014 they won't be able to deny people with preexisting conditions at all. But as of now, as of today, insurers will no longer be able to deny coverage to kids with preexisting conditions. Health plans cannot limit or

deny benefits or deny coverage for a child younger than the age of 19 simply because the child has a preexisting condition like asthma. Now, that's a good thing. Why would they want to repeal this? They want to take this from the people, Madam Speaker.

You know what else they want to take from the people, Madam Speaker? They want to take it away. They want to allow insurance companies again to be able to put lifetime limits on people's benefits. Health plans can no longer put a lifetime dollar limit on benefits of people with medical conditions like cancer.

I had a lady tell me, You know what? When my money runs out, I'm going to go die on the Capitol steps because my country won't be there for me. Now her country is here for her.

Also, Republicans want to take this away: That an insurance company cannot cancel your policy without proving fraud. Now, if a woman gets a diagnosis of breast cancer, a man gets a diagnosis of prostate cancer, the insurance companies used to be able to say, You're out. We're going to rescind your policy. They can't do that any more. Health care plans can't retroactively cancel insurance coverage--often at the time you need it most--solely because your employer made a mistake or a typo. They're going to have to prove that there was fraud.

Insurers can't deny your claim without a chance for you to appeal. If they deny your claim and say, Oh, we're not covering that. So your doctor says you need this procedure. The insurance company says, We're not going to cover you on that. You should at least be able to appeal it to somebody. As of today, Madam Speaker, you have an appeal. You have a third party you can go to and say, My doctor sent me here. I took the procedure that the doctor wanted me to have. And now they say they don't want to pay. You don't have to take their word for it any more, Madam Speaker. You can go over their head.

You can receive free preventative services such as screenings, vaccinations, and counseling. This is a good thing because everybody knows an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Everybody knows that. Wouldn't you rather have your sugar checked before you end up with diabetes? Wouldn't you rather have your blood pressure checked before you end up with heart disease? Wouldn't you rather have a screening for your cholesterol and make sure you're staying healthy? This is a good thing.

And you know what? Insurance companies shouldn't charge you for it. A lot of the reasons people don't get these preventative screenings, Madam Speaker, is because they don't have the $20 that it's going to cost them. So they don't check that sugar, or they don't check that blood pressure, they don't check that cholesterol. And it gets worse, and it gets worse, and they end up in the emergency room.

Today, as of today, you can receive free preventative services such as screenings, vaccinations, and counseling. This is going to save our country millions of dollars. How many people's lives are going to be saved because they got to it early? This is a great thing. This is a great day.

Young adults can stay on a parent's plan until they're 26. You know, Madam Speaker, I told a number of people I have a son who is 22 years old. He was, of course, 21 before his last birthday. My son turned 22 on March 13, but about a month before his birthday, he got a birthday present from Blue Cross/Blue Shield. And the birthday present was a letter kicking him off my insurance. Now, that's not good. That's really tragic.

But as of today, he can come back on my policy. He doesn't have to worry about what's going to happen if he gets sick. What if he got a summer job painting, and he fell off the ladder? What if he developed a bad cough? What if anything? He broke his ankle a few years ago. What if it started flaring up? Now he doesn't have to worry about that. He's still on mom and dad's policy.

As of today, Madam Speaker, people can choose a primary care doctor, OB-GYN, pediatrician without needing a referral from another doctor. Now, that's a good thing. You can choose your own doctor. That's great. You can use the nearest emergency room without paying a penalty. That's good.

One time I was trying to pull some weeds from under my lawnmower, and I stupidly let my hand drift up under the lawnmower. Cut my finger. I had to go to the nearest emergency room. What if I would have went there and they said, You know what? You need to go somewhere else. I was in serious pain--although my injury wasn't nearly as serious as other people who have been shot, who are in cardiac arrest, who've been sent to other emergency rooms. Now you can go to the nearest emergency room without paying a penalty. That's a good thing.

So, Madam Speaker, I just want to say tonight that the real Republican agenda isn't about smaller government, lower taxes. It's about bigger government and lower taxes for rich people. That's what they're about. That's the Republican agenda. More debt and lower taxes for the well-to-do. And, again, in America we don't scorn our well-to-do, we just want them to pony up and help out like everybody else. The real Republican agenda is really they'll be happy to get rid of a job if it would help a corporate executive save a buck or earn a buck. It's about blowing up the deficit by adding $700 billion to the deficit to give tax breaks to the richest 2 percent of Americans.

The real Republican agenda is about putting insurance companies back in charge of your health care, which the Democrats took them away from. It's about privatizing and cutting Social Security, and it's about repealing Wall Street reform. This is not good. We need to change.

The progressive message tonight is about Democrats are working together with the President to provide tax cuts for middle class Americans. And the progressive message is about health care, it's about financial reform, it's about protecting you and your money with the consumer protection agency. It's about a lot of important things to help the quality of life for Americans, Americans of all colors, all cultures, and all faiths, Americans who serve in our Nation's military, who serve us as public employees, Americans who are looking out for us every day to live a high quality of life, to send their kids to school and have a chance at education, to have a decent, respectable retirement, to have some health care, to be able to earn a decent living. That's what the progressive message is all about. That's what the Democratic caucus is all about.

And I think, Madam Speaker, that Americans need to look really, really hard and ask some very tough questions of our Republican colleagues because that's not what they're about.

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