Source: United States Senator for Nebraska Deb Fischer
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) delivered a floor speech today outlining her opposition to the reckless tax and spending that the Democrats are attempting to push through the Senate this weekend.
Click the image above to watch Sen. Fischer’s speech
Key Excerpt:
The Biden administration’s policies have saddled this country with: two consecutive months of negative economic growth, which is the definition of a recession, 9.1% inflation, a negative 3.6% inflation-adjusted decline in pay for workers, and more Americans than ever before holding two full-time jobs.
In the face of all this hardship, we need real solutions – not more of the same backwards spending policies.
The cute name that Senators Schumer and Manchin have come up with for their proposal shouldn’t hide the facts.
And the facts are, massive tax hikes and billions of dollars in reckless government spending is the last thing our country needs right now.
So why are we even debating such a terrible bill?
A short history lesson may offer some answers.
People may recall something called the Cornhusker Kickback – an agreement in 2009 between my predecessor and Senator Harry Reid. In exchange for a special carveout only for Nebraska to reduce the cost of enacting Obamacare in our state, my predecessor agreed to flip his vote on Obamacare.
The kickback, once public, angered and embarrassed Nebraskans.
History often repeats itself, and from what I am hearing it seems as though we have a new kickback – the Mountaineer kickback – a deal only for West Virginia.
Tax hikes and reckless spending for all of us in exchange for a pipeline…
The full copy of Sen. Fischer’s remarks as prepared for delivery is below:
M. President, let me state the obvious.
Billions of dollars in reckless spending and major tax hikes will not solve the economic crisis our nation finds itself in.
Yet somehow this concoction of truly terrible economic policies is exactly what my colleagues on the Democratic side are pursing.
Let’s start with the tax hikes. In the Schumer-Manchin bill, they’ve proposed imposing a corporate minimum tax on big bad corporations.
50% of this change would be borne by the manufacturing industry – an industry both Republicans and Democrats have been trying to grow, not harm with bad policies.
Manufacturers are already struggling to navigate inflation and the supply chain crisis.
This bill punishes manufacturers, and there is no question that this would hurt the middle class by raising prices and lowering wages.
At a time of historic inflation, manufacturers will have no choice but to pass on higher prices to the consumer.
And that’s just one part of it. Democrats say the rich should pay their fair share. Well let’s look at this.
A non-partisan analysis of the entire bill found that it would cause a $16.7 billion tax increase for American taxpayers earning less than $200,000 in 2023.
President Biden is going back on his promise and raising taxes for those earning less than $400,000 – during a recession.
What about the claim that this proposal will address inflation?
The Penn-Wharton Budget Model, which Senator Manchin frequently cites for producing the best economic analysis, found the proposal produces no meaningful reduction in the deficit or inflation.
Any suggestion otherwise is insulting to the intelligence of the American people.
Now let’s look at the reckless spending.
Why – during a time of significant economic hardship — should the American people be on the hook to fund $369 billion in incentives to Green New Deal businesses to promote green energy policies?
Can anyone in this chamber argue with a straight face that subsidizing Tesla purchases will help to ease inflation? It certainly won’t help working families.
Then there’s the $80 billion for the IRS, which is six times the agency’s current annual budget.
Democrats are once again trying hire an armada of new IRS agents — 87,000 to be exact.
This would unleash a wave of new audits – half of which would hit American’s making $75,000 or less.
We’ve been here before. The public doesn’t want this deal.
Bottom line – it’s clear this economy isn’t working for the American people.
The Biden administration’s policies have saddled this country with: two consecutive months of negative economic growth, which is the definition of a recession, 9.1% inflation, a negative 3.6% inflation-adjusted decline in pay for workers, and more Americans than ever before holding two full-time jobs.
In the face of all this hardship, we need real solutions – not more of the same backwards spending policies.
The cute name that Senators Schumer and Manchin have come up with for their proposal shouldn’t hide the facts.
And the facts are, massive tax hikes and billions of dollars in reckless government spending is the last thing our country needs right now.
So why are we even debating such a terrible bill?
A short history lesson may offer some answers.
People may recall something called the Cornhusker Kickback – an agreement in 2009 between my predecessor and Senator Harry Reid. In exchange for a special carveout only for Nebraska to reduce the cost of enacting Obamacare in our state, my predecessor agreed to flip his vote on Obamacare.
The kickback, once public, angered and embarrassed Nebraskans.
History often repeats itself, and from what I am hearing it seems as though we have a new kickback – the Mountaineer kickback – a deal only for West Virginia.
Tax hikes and reckless spending for all of us in exchange for a pipeline.
I’ll close by saying again – this is not an inflation reduction bill.
Like a bad Hollywood franchise that just won’t die, this is simply the third installment in the Build Back Broke trilogy.
I hope it does as poorly in the box office as the first two.
Thank you. I yield the floor.