Presidential Leadership

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, you know there is not much to say about the President's speech yesterday other than that he actually retreated from previous commitments to a more bipartisan, revenue-neutral corporate tax reform and then tried to sell that rejection of bipartisanship as some ``grand bargain''--I mean, only in Washington. But let me say this: It really would be nice to see the President work with Congress for a change to get some important work done for the American people. Republicans have been eager to do this all along, but, really, it is almost as if there is a ``Gone Campaignin' '' sign outside the Oval Office--a ``Gone Campaignin''' sign outside the Oval Office. On the rarest of occasions when he does come to the Hill, as he will today, you find out it is basically just for another internal campaign rally with Democrats.

I hope he will finally get serious and make one of his famous pivots--this time in a new direction toward effective policy and away from the never-ending political sideshow. But it is hard to see, especially when you consider that the President's party is now attempting to blow up one of the most genuinely bipartisan accomplishments of the Obama era.

The Budget Control Act that was agreed upon two summers ago represented a commitment from Washington to America, a bipartisan promise to enact $2.1 trillion in spending control. Last year the slightest hint of fiddling with the spending caps led to a furious response from senior Washington Democrats. It even led to a veto threat from the White House. But now Washington Democrats are tired of bipartisanship. The commitments they made have become an inconvenience to their special interest agenda, so now they are threatening to shut the government down if they are not allowed to break their word. That is what this appropriations debate we are having is all about. It is about an attempt to blow up an important bipartisan achievement by busting the spending caps to which both parties already agreed.

Republicans do not believe we should be breaking our commitments to the American people, and breaking commitments in order to overspend, as Democrats propose, seems like an even worse reason for them to shut down the government. So I hope they will not. I hope they will think about the ``third way'' offer we have made to them too--that we would happily discuss exchanging some of the particular cuts they do not like for government reforms, the kinds of innovative ideas that can get our economy back on track and our government back in the black not just in the immediate term but over the long haul. This policy discussion has never been more relevant, especially when we look at what is happening in Detroit and what is happening in Europe, when we realize that the real-world consequences of putting off reform are no longer just abstract or hypothetical, they are here, they are real, and they are now.

The experts tell us that the United States is already on a completely unsustainable fiscal trajectory and that we need to make some big changes today if we want to avoid a similar fate. They also tell us that, unlike Detroit or Greece, America still has some time to chart its own future--but not long. That is why the choices we make today are so important. We can follow the Democratic path to austerity--the path of breaking spending caps wide open and borrowing more money we do not have, of callously rejecting reform and blissfully denying the future. That path inevitably leads to European-style austerity, to the decimation of the middle class, to desperation for the least among us, or we can follow the Republican path to reform and growth, a path of smart choices, innovative reforms, and orienting our economy toward the future. The Republican path not only prevents austerity tomorrow but leads to more jobs and a better economy today. The Democratic path to austerity or a Republican path to reform and growth, these are the choices.

Voting for appropriations legislation that blatantly violates budget reforms already agreed to by both parties moves our country in exactly the wrong direction. It puts us on the Democratic path to austerity. That is one of the many reasons I will be voting against this spending bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. It is time to get serious about the challenges we face. It is time to work together to reposition America for growth and prosperity and sustainability in the 21st century.

If the President is willing to get off the campaign trail and show some leadership with his party--convince them of the positive reforms and the need to actually stick to them--I am confident we can create a better economy today and leave a better future for our children tomorrow. But it is up to him, and his visit today offers a great chance to convey this message to his fellow Democrats.

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