House Proceeding 04-06-06 on Apr 6th, 2006 :: 5:09:39 to 5:15:18
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5:09:29 to 5:09:39( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from pennsylvania. mr. english: i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the

5:09:39 to 5:09:53( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: gentleman from maryland. mr. cardin: i would like to yield to the gentleman from new jersey who is known for his commitment to tax fairness and fiscal responsibility, mr. rothman. five

5:09:39 to 5:15:18( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Steven R. Rothman

5:09:53 to 5:10:06( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: minutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized -- the gentleman from new jersey is recognized for five minutes. mr. rothman: thank you, mr. cardin. mr. chairman, what are the

5:10:06 to 5:10:21( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: priorities of the democratic party? what are the priorities of the republican majority? the republican majority who have been in power in the house and the senate for 5 1/2 years with

5:10:21 to 5:10:40( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: a republican president for 5 1/2 years, with their policies leading to a greater and greater difference disparity in incomes, between the very rich and the middle class and the working poor and

5:10:40 to 5:10:56( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: the poor, and the greatest deficit in the history of the united states. that is the result of the priorities and policies of the republican majority. that's a fact. i believe they are the wrong

5:10:56 to 5:11:11( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: priorities and put us on the wrong track -- but that will be up to the voters in november to change -- but what about these tax cuts that are spurring the economy and unprecedented issues,

5:11:11 to 5:11:26( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: hogwash. hogwash. the secretary of transportation -- treasury -- the secretary of the treasury, john snow, from the bush administration, came before our committee this week and said, secretary of the

5:11:26 to 5:11:41( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: treasury under president bush said, these tax cuts are responsible for 1/3 of this deficit. they're responsible for 1/3 of this deficit. the greatest deficit in the history of the united states,

5:11:41 to 5:11:54( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: that's what these tax cuts have caused. and he said, by the way, for every dollar in tax cut we give, we don't get back more money than we gave out in tax cuts. we get 30 cents to 40 cents

5:11:54 to 5:12:07( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: for every dollar in tax cuts, which means we lose in the treasury 60 cents to 70 cents on every dollar we get back. we only get 30 cents to 40 cents. well, if we could afford that i suppose

5:12:07 to 5:12:21( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: it would be great to give people back more money. the question is, who should get the tax cuts? people on the republican side of the aisle say boldly everybody should get a tax cut. well,

5:12:21 to 5:12:33( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: i don't know about you, but in a time of war, in a time when we have natural disasters like hurricane rita and hurricane katrina, when people are working harder and not making any more money,

5:12:33 to 5:12:46( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: they got growing health care bills, worrying about their retirement, having their college tuition costs increased by the republican majority, veterans paying more than ever because the majority

5:12:46 to 5:13:00( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: says they don't have the money, they don't have the money they say even to inspect more than 5% of the containers coming into america. they say we don't have the money. hong kong inspects

5:13:00 to 5:13:10( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: 100% of the containers. what are they doing with the money? they're giving it to the very richest people in the country. they -- and they said boldly, yes, we're doing that. everybody should

5:13:10 to 5:13:22( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: have a tax cut. well, you know these same folks that have been getting the benefit of trillions of dollars of tax cuts since president bush took office. the recession has been over for three

5:13:22 to 5:13:34( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: years. do they still need the money when we have the biggest deficit in history and you tell veterans and college kids and seniors, we don't have the money for our program, or parents

5:13:34 to 5:13:49( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: with kids that have disabilities, we don't have money for your program. they say, well, there they go again, those democrats class warfare. hogwash. we have to make a decision about what

5:13:49 to 5:13:59( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: to do with our tax dollars. should we spend it on people who need it, the middle class, by getting rid of this alternative minimum tax cut -- this alternative minimum tax, the republican

5:13:59 to 5:14:19( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: majority says, no, we don't have the money to get rid of the alternative minimum tax that affects primarily the middle class. they say they don't have the money. they didn't put it in the

5:14:19 to 5:14:33( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: budget. what they did put in their budget were huge tax cuts for people making over $500,000, $1 million, $10 million, up to the sky. 45% of the tax cuts under their bill here, 45% of the

5:14:33 to 5:14:45( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: revenues go to people with incomes of $1 million a year. is that the country you want to live in where we allow the republican majority to give our money to the rich and tell everybody us,

5:14:45 to 5:15:05( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: go jump in a lake, pull yourselves up by your boot straps, but the rich should get the money? there's a difference, mr. chairman, between the democratic party who says, let's have -- let's fix

5:15:05 to 5:15:18( Edit History Discussion )

Steven R. Rothman: that alternative minimum tax that hurts the middle class, let's spend the money on that, not tax cuts for the very rich. where you give your -- i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the

5:15:18 to 5:15:27( Edit History Discussion )

Thaddeus G. McCotter: gentleman's time has expired. mr. english: mr. speaker, how much time do i have remaining? the speaker pro tempore: 23 1/2 minutes, mr. english. mr. english: i would be delighted to yield five minutes

5:15:18 to 5:17:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Thaddeus G. McCotter