Shared Sacrifice in Resolving the Budget Deficit

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, yesterday morning I came to the floor to announce my conclusion that, despite his repeated claims to the contrary, the President has no real intention of cutting spending or dealing with our deficits and debt. It has been my fervent hope that the President could be persuaded to view the upcoming debt limit vote as an opportunity--an opportunity--to change direction, to cut spending, to cut debt, and to preserve entitlement programs. But those hopes have evaporated as the President began to insist in recent weeks that he would only consider spending cuts later if Republicans agreed now to one of the biggest tax hikes in history. Republicans refused to be drawn into this legislative trap.

When Democrats proposed a smaller plan that they claimed, without any details, amounted to more than $1 trillion in cuts, we refused to go along again because we knew that it really did not cut $1 trillion. We refused to pretend that a bad idea was a good one. Our bottom line is this: The White House would have to prove that the cuts it was claiming to support were real and enforceable before Republicans would sign off on any plan to endorse them.

As it turned out, our skepticism was well founded.

Earlier this week, I asked an administration official point blank what the cuts they were proposing as part of their so-called bipartisan deal would amount to next year; that is, year 2012. He said they were talking about a $2 billion reduction--$2 billion--for next year. We will borrow more than $4 billion today. That, Madam President, is not a deal in which I am particularly interested. This is what they were planning to spin as more than $1 trillion over 10 years. It was at that point that I realized the White House simply was not serious about cutting spending or debt. The only thing they were serious about was putting together a plan that appeared serious but really was not, and they wanted Republicans to go along with it. Well, we are not interested in playing that game.

In the end, the White House gave us three choices in exchange for a vote to increase the debt limit: a massive tax hike, smoke and mirrors, or default. And none of these options is acceptable. So yesterday I proposed a possible fourth option as a last resort if the President continues to shirk his duty to do something about our dire fiscal situation. If the White House continues to insist on either tax hikes or default, then we would send legislation to the President that requires him to propose spending cuts greater than the debt limit he requests; make the President show in black and white the specific cuts he claims to support. If he refuses, he will have to raise the debt ceiling on his own. But he is not going to get Republicans to go along with that. That way, the President cannot pretend to support cuts when he does not. He is forced to simply put up.

I understand the reluctance the American people have in concluding that a serious solution is not going to happen. I hope I am wrong. The idea of not doing something serious about the debt before August, frankly, sickens me. Like most Americans, I previously did not believe anyone in this country could seriously deny the need to rein in government spending. Like most Americans, I previously did not believe anyone could be so shortsighted as to propose massive tax hikes in a weakened economy. Like all of you, I did not think even the most liberal among us would go to such lengths to protect the expansion of government. I am sorry to report there are people who believe all of those things, and they currently reside right down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But Republicans refuse to let the President use the threat of a debt limit deadline to get us to cave on tax increases or on phony spending cuts that future Congresses could just as easily reverse with a single vote. We are not gambling our Nation's fiscal future on the promise of spending cuts tomorrow for tax hikes today.

It is time to change the conversation altogether. It is time to refocus this debate on the kinds of real cuts and debt reduction Americans are demanding of us. It is time to show there are two different versions of our Nation's future at work here. So over the next several days, Republicans will redouble our efforts to avoid all four scenarios. Americans do not want tax hikes, they do not want phony spending cuts, they do not want a debt disapproval plan, and they do not want us to default on our debts. They want real cuts and real reforms now, and that is what Republicans will spend the next 2 weeks fighting for--the one thing that will ensure that Washington gets its house in order and forces future Congresses to live within their means.

The time has come for a balanced budget amendment that forces Washington to balance its books. If these debt negotiations have convinced us of anything, it is that we cannot leave it to politicians in Washington to make the difficult decisions they need to to get our fiscal house in order. The balanced budget amendment will do that for them. Now is the moment. No more games. No more gimmicks. The Constitution must be amended to keep the government in check. We have tried persuasion. We have tried negotiations. We have tried elections. Nothing has worked. If the President will not do something about the debt, we will go around him and take it to the American people. We will have a real debate. Those who support endless spending and debt will vote against it. It is time we all stand up to be counted.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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