Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, this is the fourth year in a row that the Republicans have introduced their roadmap for the future.

If they took over the House, the Senate, and the Presidency, what would they do? Who would be the winners and losers?

The chairman of the Budget Committee said this is a win-win budget. It is a win if you are in the top percentile, and it is a win if you are in the second percentile, but the rest of us--the 98 percent--certainly aren't winning.

We lose 1.1 million jobs in 2015 and 3 million jobs in 2016 in the Republican budget. That is like firing every single person in the State of Wisconsin. We lose by slashing investments in infrastructure and science, in transportation and education, and for our seniors. The middle class taxpayers pay for it.

We also lose on the fact that this has fuzzy math. The logic is terrible. To say this actually balances in 10 years is to say that Cheez Whiz is like real Wisconsin cheese. They cut the Affordable Care Act's benefits, but they keep the revenues, and they keep the savings, which is simply impossible.

I hope the American public realizes that, if the Republicans take over, this is their roadmap. These are the cuts you are going to see, so I urge a ``no'' vote on the budget.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I think the gentleman from northwest Wisconsin is right: let's put the budgets side by side.

The Better Off Budget will create 8.8 million jobs. The Republican Paul Ryan budget will cut 3 million jobs. That is equivalent to the entire workforce of the State of Wisconsin.

If you have family with kids going to school, the Better Off Budget invests into hiring more teachers, invests in our schools and pre-K, invests in our college students. The Paul Ryan Republican budget, it cuts $18 billion in early education, $89 billion in K-12 education, and $205 billion in higher education. Oh, and if you get Pell grants, another $145 billion cut.

Senior citizens, we invest in Medicare and Medicaid and we make sure you can negotiate for your drug prices. Seniors under the Republican budget, you voucherize Medicare and you will lose $732 billion in Medicaid. And, oh, yeah, we are going to open up the doughnut hole and you will pay more for prescription drugs.

Finally, on taxes, we close corporate loopholes for gas and oil companies. We make sure that companies sending jobs overseas don't get tax breaks. The Republican budget, it cuts taxes on millionaires on average $200,000 each. And you know how it gets paid for? On the backs of the middle class, $2,000 per family.

The head of the Budget Committee said it is a win/win budget. It is a win for the top 1 percent. It is a win for the second percentile, and the other 98 percent of us pay the difference.

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