Big Oil Subsidies

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin. First of all, I am happy to hear that our Democratic colleagues agree to allow us to come back next week and not go on a recess. It is important that we start work on the single greatest issue, the single most important issue facing this Nation--our debt and deficit issue.

A couple of minutes ago, I objected to what the leadership wanted to move to, which was an important debate on Libya, but it is not addressing what we need to address. The fact is that in the Senate this year--we have been here 6 months, and we have not passed a budget. As a matter of fact, we have not passed a budget in the Senate for over 2 years. We have missed all of the budget deadlines. We should have passed a budget by April 15. Appropriations bills should have been completed by June 10. We are simply not addressing the single greatest issue facing this country--that we are bankrupting America. Only six bills have been passed in the Senate that have actually become law. Three of those were cleaning up last year's business. They were continuing resolutions funding the government, when what should have happened a year ago is those bills should have already been passed. President Obama's budget that he sent over here in January was so unserious that actually it lost 0 to 97 in the Senate. Not a single Democratic Senator voted for that budget.

We have an awful lot of work to do. Our budget deficit this year--the highest estimate I have heard is about $1.65 trillion. We have incurred over $4 trillion in just the last 3 years. If anybody in America wants to understand why our economy is in a coma, it is exactly that. People look to Washington and they see how reckless and out of control our spending is.

As a former manufacturer, as somebody who made investments and created jobs, I realize that when the Federal Government is spending so much money that it doesn't have, eventually the Federal Government is going to take in the form of higher taxes, possibly in the form of higher inflation.

The other thing that is overhanging the economy that is preventing job creation is overregulation. I cannot tell you how many Wisconsin businesspeople come into our office and talk about that regulation or this regulation that one of the agencies is trying to impose on them.

One thing that is interesting about many of these regulations is they are not being implemented. Just like the health care law; over 3 million waivers have been granted. Why is that? I believe it is because this administration actually understands that if they implement the health care law and these regulations--they understand exactly the harmful effect that will have on our economy and on job creation.

The fact is, what this administration has done--they came into office with a tough situation, no doubt about it, but their actions--passing the health care law, the 1,600-page Dodd-Frank financial bill--have made job creation far harder. They have made the situation far worse.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. JOHNSON of Wisconsin. I thank the Senator from Florida for those comments, and I want to pick up on one point the Senator just made about class warfare.

Certainly, as a job creator myself of 31, 32 years, I know an awful lot about entrepreneurs, and I have to point out how incredibly dispiriting it is to have leaders in Washington attack you day in and day out, demonize you, when all you are trying to do is make a good life for yourself, your family, and provide solid employment for other good Americans.

So, again, I need to point out class warfare does not work. It does nothing--it does nothing--to help improve our economy.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source