Rules of the House

Floor Speech

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, to those who have wondered, what would be
the top priority of this Republican-controlled Congress? What would
they do on day one? Well, now we know. It is deception, what some could
even rightly call tax fraud, since this amounts to deliberate
misrepresentation of tax data.

Republicans are admitting right here on day one that they don't know
how to balance the budget. When the budget numbers will not add up,
when the arithmetic just doesn't work for them, they change the numbers
with magical new math. Where the books won't balance with the numbers
that you have got, Republicans say, ``Use the numbers you would like to
have.''

All their previous talk about budget discipline and balancing budgets
was really about trying to dismantle Democratic efforts to provide an
opportunity ladder up for all Americans, to assure dignity in
retirement, and to protect families from the risk of illness--that
ladder of security and protection that many Republicans were never for
in the first place.

Now, to free themselves from the hard work of responsible, balanced
budgets, Republicans are compelling the House for the first time in
American history to rely upon something they call ``dynamic scoring''--
That is just a euphemism for whimsy, speculation, and wishful
thinking--the thin veneer for a failed political ideology.

One leading Republican expert, former Senate budget staff director
Bill Hoagland, has said that instead of this scoring gimmick that they
are using today, he would ``rather [they] just simply belly up to the
bar'' and ``admit up front that they can't lower rates without adding
to the deficit.''

Today's actions remind me of a riddle some attribute to President
Abraham Lincoln: ``How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a
leg? Four, because calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.''

And calling a budget ``balanced'' when it doesn't have adequate
revenue does not make it so.

Passing a budget requires hard work. Republicans would rather use a
sleight of hand than offer a helping hand from all to get the job done.
Vote no.

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