Senate Proceeding on Apr 29th, 2009 :: 5:47:50 to 6:06:55
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5:47:47 to 5:48:07( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: but when senator grsly people listen, because he's earned their respect. the presiding officer: without objection, the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: thank you mr. president, and i chairman of the finance committee for his remarks. i hold him in the as well.

5:47:50 to 6:06:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Chuck Grassley

5:48:08 to 5:48:28( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the budget that we're voting on had bipartisan o house of representatives. 17 democrats voted against this budget. i hope that, particularly because most of those are what you call conserv whatever title they want, that's what i'll call them, fiscally conservative democrats, they think that this budget leaves

5:48:29 to 5:48:52( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: too much of a children and grandchildren in the way of debt. so bipartisan to tell this white house and this majority something. and i hope in time that we'll come very -- that will become very clear. today --

5:48:53 to 5:49:14( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: this budget resolution. and it will pass shortly, i'm sure. the budget process started, of course, with the president's budget coming to the february 26th. that was just about two months ago. during the committee process, process, and i participated in

5:49:15 to 5:49:35( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the floor process, we faced one the quest more or less budget discipline to the record debts and deficits of my obama, on what he inherited january the 20th, 2009?

5:49:36 to 5:49:58( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: over the past few weeks we've heard a lot about revisionists fiscal history or it might be best described as heavy edi of recent budget history. i was pleased to see distinguished budget committee chairman make the record clear,

5:49:59 to 5:50:20( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: president point -- $1.3 trillion deficit. i agree with that. i don't make exception to that. those are quantifiable facts. president obama inherited a large deficit. one point of clarification, though, needs to be made.

5:50:21 to 5:50:42( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the deficit and bequeathed on a bipartisan basis. and that is due to the makeup of the presidency last time and the congress over the last two years. the obviously controlled the house and senate during the years that those budgets were drawn up in 2007 and 2008.

5:50:43 to 5:51:04( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the democratic leadership wrote the tax and spending bills that president bush signed in the last congress. so congressional negotiated the bailout bill with the bush administration. those fiscal policy decisions, though at times very combative

5:51:05 to 5:51:25( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: in the the one hand by a congress controlled by by the administration controlled by a republican president. so bipartisan. the antirecessionary spending, together with the lower tax receipts, and the tarp

5:51:26 to 5:51:47( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: activities, has set a fiscal table of a debt o of $1.3 trillion. that, in fact, was on the president's deskhen he took over the oval office ja that's the highest deficit as a post world war ii history.

5:51:48 to 5:52:10( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: not a very pretty picture, mr. president. i have a chart here that shows that part of the story. and that part of the story the grade there. and as predicted a couple months ago that --

5:52:11 to 5:52:32( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: got a lot uglier with the stimulus bill. so for the folks who bill as an opportunity to recover america with government taking a larger share of economy over well, they can for those who voted for the

5:52:33 to 5:52:55( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: stimulus bill, and i didn' you put us on a path to a bigger role for t over $1 trillion of new deficit spending was hidden in that bill. it caused some of the extra red ink in this chart and so i point to what's called the inherited aspect of the debt and those are

5:52:56 to 5:53:17( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the red bars on top of the gray bars, what was inherited. supporters of that bill, i th fiscal course th and, charted. and, again, that's the red line if you want

5:53:18 to 5:53:39( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the what's done since t has come to office. now, to be sure after the other side bill and of the tarp a portion of this new red ink up

5:53:40 to 5:54:01( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: front is due the bottom line, however, is that reestimate occred several weeks -- several weeks after the president and robust -- more robust democratic majorities took over in january of this year. decisions were made and you know what happens sneer decisions --

5:54:02 to 5:54:22( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: what happens here? decisions have consequences. so fiscal consequences followed. the budget before us, for the most part, follows the fiscal trail blazed as the admission's -- administration's top budget official said, this

5:54:23 to 5:54:44( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: 98% like the president's i want to congratulate the chairman on keeping some of the tax priorities of the senate, however. one, dealing with the alternative minimum tax patch, though shorter than i proposed is dealt the chairman also kept part of the senate's middle-income tax relief.

5:54:45 to 5:55:06( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: but on both the tax and the spending side we need to take a hard look at what's going on at the end of this 2014. the budget resolution conference report claims to refuse the deficit from $1.7 trillion this

5:55:07 to 5:55:28( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: year to about 2014. however, the final year of the budget fails to revenue loss from the alternative minimum tax patch for that year. it falls -- it fails the extending the 2001 and 2003

5:55:29 to 5:55:51( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: middle-class tax relief. the president's making work pay tax credit, the medicare physician disasters, butt does include illusionry cuts.

5:55:52 to 5:56:12( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: when you add it thing that it claims to do but doesn't, falls hundreds of billions of dollars short of its claimed deficit reduction. so let's return then to the basic question the very beginning and i also asked when we started the

5:56:13 to 5:56:33( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: process several weeks ago. the question, once again is this: should we apply less budget discipline to record debts and deficits, my president, president obama inheritedanuary 20th, 2009? this budget does answer this

5:56:34 to 5:56:56( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: basic question. it makes the fiscal situation even worse. inherited debt doesn't stay at -- it's -- at its unacceptably high level. it doubles to 82% of gross national so we have another chart here, the red line going up toward the

5:56:57 to 5:57:18( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: top and gets to be over 80%. abnormal deficit levels become normal deficit levels. again, you see here what -- what's normal and what isn't normal. levels once considered a fiscal

5:57:19 to 5:57:39( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: vice by most people in this, let's say at peak during the bush years of 3% to 4% points here in the years 2005 -- no, 2007 and 2008, they are, as you can see from the chart, very out years of the president's

5:57:40 to 5:58:00( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: bu fiscal vices become fiscal habits i'd ask anyone if they that everyone in this body help get our economy back on track.

5:58:01 to 5:58:21( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: if the economy gets back on track, everybody wins. from a no than growing the more economy divided up over an increasing

5:58:22 to 5:58:43( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: economy for more people more and if you don't grow the economy, you have less for more i think everyone in this body would agree that grow likewise, knows that small businesses are an extremely

5:58:44 to 5:59:05( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: import economy. i like to say that the small business is the engine that drives the u.s. economy. president obama agrees that small businesses have generated 70% of the net new jobs over the past decade and most economists agree with that. one month ago we debated the budget resolution on the senate floor.

5:59:06 to 5:59:26( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: during tt debate the senate spoke senator cornyn, small business tax relief amendment passed by an overwhelming in other words, 82 of the people in this body agreeing with president obama. senator snowe had a similar amendment that was accepted by

5:59:27 to 5:59:51( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: the managers of the floor bill. last week the senate spoke again again. this time the question was phrased on a motion to instruct the budget resolution conferees on the importance taxes on small the vote grew even more, 84 in favor of it, nine against it.

5:59:52 to 6:00:13( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: unfortunately, the conferees did not adopt the senate budget resolution protecting small businesses from tax increases. america's small businesses have been suffering during this recession. you'll hear it in your events back home. i do. a very good source of answers about the environment and small business is found in the monthly

6:00:14 to 6:00:38( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: survey of small businesses. the survey by the national federation of independent businesses, nfib with a organization for small here -- they've been conduct this go survey for 35 years. the nfib's membership includes hundreds of thousands of small

6:00:39 to 6:01:00( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: businesses all across america. i'd encourage every american to check on this survey, and particular this will month's survey. this month's survey shows some on credit availability, small businesses are getting s very hard, and we have a chart that shows this trend. particularly look out her the year 2009 onhe right side

6:01:01 to 6:01:21( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: of this chart. way down as far as the percentage change compared to before. this credit crunch and other factors have contributed near record index of small business optimism.

6:01:22 to 6:01:43( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: i have another chart that puts this data so we have here over a long period of time the -- the optimism of business, of small business, that is. what you see here attitude of decision-makers in small business america. those are the decision-makers

6:01:44 to 6:02:06( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: for business that president obama and congress agree are the businesses most likely to grow and contract jobs. the pessimism i at i lowest point in those 35 years of survey. the data should concern every policy-maker

6:02:07 to 6:02:30( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: as bad as the two sets of data are another chart. this chart shows the net increase business hiring plans. the survey owner whether he or she planned to expand or contract employment

6:02:31 to 6:02:52( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: over the next three months as you can see -- asou can see right here, it's very negative. this chart shows activity contracting tremendously. small business hiring plans are at their most negative level in the 35-year survey. with this pes most i can environment, we should not be

6:02:53 to 6:03:13( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: surprised, with this pessimistic environment, we should not be businesses are hemorrhaging jobs. the president's recent effort t increase lending to small businesses are commendable. the centerpiece of the president's small business plan will allow the federal

6:03:14 to 6:03:39( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: government to spend up to $25 billion to purchase the small business loans that are now hinring small banks and lenders. unfortunately, very well-intentioned as it is, that's a drop in the very empty buet. remember colleagues that small business accounts for about half of the private sector. moreover, the positives that

6:03:40 to 6:04:04( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: will come to small business from this loans which willltimat to be paid back be heavily outweighed by the negative impact of the president's proposed tax increases on those very same small business sector. helping small businesses get loans just to take the money back in the form of tax hikes is

6:04:05 to 6:04:27( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: not wise. it would be wise to make those loans possible, but these tax policies that the president's thinking about doing are going to hinder small business. don't take my word for it. just today, the national federation of independent businesses wrote to all of us, all of members of the senate, on this point. nfib's hundreds of thousands of

6:04:28 to 6:04:50( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: small business owners oppose this conference report. and i would like to put that -- a copy of that record in the letter -- or a copy of that letter in the chairman. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. grassley: here's what the nfib says in that "nfib is concerned the conference report assumes the top individual tax rates will

6:04:51 to 6:05:11( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: expire which would mean a tax increase from some small business owners. do we on these small businesses that create new jobs and employ two-thirds of all small business workers? will these small businesses already suffering from the credit crunch -- with them

6:05:12 to 6:05:32( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: suffering from the credit crunch before the entire country, do we really want -- think it's wise to hit small business again with this double whammy of a 20% increase in marginal tax rates? as we move forward from

6:05:33 to 6:05:55( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: budget process, the president and the congressional democratic leadership have an opportunity to change course and from my 33 town meetings in iowa during spring break, they want to change that course? there's a lot of concern about the legacy of debt that we're leaving to child grandchildren.

6:05:56 to 6:06:16( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: both budgets would perpetuate the double whammyf constricted credit and high taxes directed at america's job engine, small business. so as i close, in the coming to persuade our democratic friends who have all the controls of fiscal policy to change course.

6:06:17 to 6:06:37( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: one way that they can change course is to focus like a laser beam on jump starting the nation's job engine business of america. we need to reverse the direction

6:06:38 to 6:06:57( Edit History Discussion )

Chuck Grassley: arrow that you've seenn some of these charts. that's where the president and the congress agree that we need to get more job growth. the -- i quoted the president. 70% of the new business. we in this party would agree with that. as we move on from the budget,