Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010

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Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to contrast the Democratic plan, plan A, and the Republican plan, plan B, and what they mean for the working citizens of the United States of America.

Let me start by talking about the Democratic plan, plan A. It is plan A because it is America's plan. Why is it America's plan? First, it benefits every single taxpayer in America. That is the first reason.

Some of my colleagues across the aisle have liked to talk about how the Democratic plan only helps those who earn under $250,000, but that is because they are not paying attention or they are deliberately distorting the facts, because the Democratic plan provides a tax break on the first $250,000 regardless of what amount of money you make. So it helps every single American.

The second is that the recent focus on citizens earning less than $250,000 is because it is the working citizens of the United States of America who have been getting the short end of the stick. The amount of money--the average income for workers in America plateaued in 1974.

Now, that happens to be the year I graduated from high school. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of taking my son to his first day of high school, same high school I went to, exactly 40 years later. So for almost 40 years, the working wages for working Americans have been flat. But during that time period, the wealth of this country has increased enormously.

The productivity of the American worker has increased enormously. Up until the mid-1970s, when the productivity increased, the wage of working Americans increased. They shared in the productivity of our economy because they were the driving factor in our economy. Unfortunately, for the last 3 1/2 to 4 decades that has not been the case.

Then along come the great Bush recession. This recession, caused by the deregulation of retail mortgage,--allowing predatory mortgages, allowing kickbacks from mortgage originators to create predatory mortgages, when folks qualified for prime mortgages, and then the deregulation of Wall Street so those could be packaged into securities was a 2-year ticking time bomb because they had these teaser rates on the mortgages.

When the interest rates went from 4 1/2 to 9 or 10 percent, not only did the mortgages blow up but the securities based on them blew up. And we blew up the whole economy. So, thank you very much, friends across the aisle, for attacking the most important financial instrument for American families, the American mortgage, destroying it, allowing predatory mortgages, allowing predatory securities, blowing up this economy, and attacking the American family.

I cannot tell you how many millions of American families are suffering because of the policies that you all implemented over the last decade. What is the result? The American family home has lost value, a tremendous amount of value. Families are underwater. What is the result? Huge unemployment caused by the meltdown in the great Bush recession. Retirement savings are depleted. Folks who thought they could have retired maybe now, maybe in 2 years, 5 years, are realizing they may have to work as long as they are able to work, as long as they are able to keep a job. Their dreams are blown up thanks to these Bush policies.

Well, there is a third reason the Democratic plan is the American plan. That is because four out of five Americans support it. Some 79 percent, or roughly 80 percent, four out of five Americans support tax breaks for families earning less than $250,000, for extending those tax breaks. So that is plan A, America's plan, because it helps all Americans, because it is focused on the American worker who has been hit so hard by the great Bush recession, and, because four out of five Americans support it and understand we need it.

But now let's turn to the Republican plan, plan B. Plan B consists of bonus breaks for billionaires--millionaires and billionaires. Why "bonus''? Because every person helped under the Republican plan who earns $1 million or $1 billion has already been helped under the Democratic plan. But my colleagues across the aisle want "extra'' for the wealthiest, most successful Americans.

I respect tremendously the entrepreneurs who have been so successful. But there is a time when we have to ask, Are bonuses to those best off the best strategy for America to go forward? This is quite a tongue twister: bonus breaks for billionaires. It gets even worse. These are the extensions of the Bush breaks, and because my colleagues across the aisle are trying to sell it as a job creation issue--and we will get to that in a minute--they are bogus.

So we have the bogus bonus Bush breaks for billionaires. That is the Republican plan B, saying they will obstruct any issue on the floor of the Senate so they can get these bonus breaks for their best friends earning millions and billions.

Well, I will tell you, these are expensive. Let's ask ourselves how much is the average value of the Republican bonus break? Well, $100,000 per taxpayer. That is how much. If we take the $700 billion the Republican plan creates in more deficit and more debt, if we take that $700 billion and divide it by the number of citizens--men, women and children--in America, 300 million, that is $2,300 for every man, woman, and child in America.

So my colleagues across the aisle are proposing taking $2,300 out of every child's and adult's pocket in America to give breaks, $100,000 tax breaks, to millionaires and billionaires.

So let's look at the total cost. Total cost, $700 billion, before we add on interest. Let's add on interest. It is almost $1 trillion. That is a huge increase in our deficit. So it is deficit busting, debt adding, financed by China, and placed onto our children.

Is that what the excited Republican team, coming fresh out of an election, wants to say is their top priority in America, taking $2,300 from every man, woman, and child in America so they can give a $100,000 tax break to millionaires and billionaires?

Well, they have a way of trying to camouflage this. That camouflage is to talk about jobs. So let's talk about jobs. Let's look at the Republican plan in terms of job creation. Well, CBO ranked the Republican plan against many other plans, and where does it come in? Dead last.

I have the detailed chart from the Congressional Budget Office, and up here at the very top is the Democratic plan. That is to provide assistance to the unemployed. Here at the very bottom is the Republican plan, which is bonus breaks for millionaires and billionaires.

Let me tell you just how different these are. Increasing aid to the unemployed is estimated to create 8 to 19 jobs for every $1 million in expenditure, 8 to 19 jobs. How many jobs are created by the Republican plan? One to three, one to three jobs.

So the Democrats are saying, let's take the dead-last plan in job creation, the Republican plan, and let's replace it with the best plan, the Democratic plan.

Republican plan, one to three jobs per $1 million, one to three for $1 million; Democratic plan, 8 to 19. Well, my good friend from South Dakota was here saying it is all just common sense. Yes, it is common sense. We take the plan that is the worst for job creation, and we replace it with the plan that is the best for job creation.

Well, friends across America, this is about jobs, and the word "jobs'' will come out of the rhetoric on the opposite side of the aisle with every speech. But it is bogus. Their plan is dead last; Democratic plan is top of the list. Check the CBO study.

It hurts to hear folks who are out of touch with the foreclosure crisis in America----

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has spoken for 10 minutes.

Mr. MERKLEY. I ask for the chairman to yield me 30 seconds.

Mr. BAUCUS. How much does the Senator seek?

Mr. MERKLEY. One minute.

Mr. BAUCUS. I yield 1 minute to the Senator from Oregon.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.

Mr. MERKLEY. I thank my friend from Montana.

It is summarized like this. We have American families who are hurting. They have lost their jobs, their retirement savings, the value of their houses. Let's have the plan that is best for creating jobs, not the plan that is worst for creating jobs.

I yield the floor.

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