Date: 2010-06-29
Speaker: MARIO DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Flor

ida. I think you just brought up. frankly. something thats very scary. should be very scary to us. And you mentioned what happened there isthats how it started in Europe. Thats how it started in Greece. and eventually it basically started to collapse. which is why then the European Union had to bail out Greece. and then they had to talk to Spain about not spending any money. about cutting their spending. et cetera. And so when we talk about howand not us. when economistsaround the country. now even around the world. and leaders around the world say its unsustainable. its because thats where we are headed if we dont change that. But you know what adds insult to injury to me? I represent the great State of Florida. I will tell you its probably the greatest place to live in the entire planet. We have a lot of senior citizens. many of whom depend on Medicare for example. Well. we know that Medicare will be going insolvent in I think just. you know. a handful of years2016 or 2017 is when it goes insolvent. So here we are borrowing and borrowing and spending and spending and borrowing and spending. Are we using that money? Is the Speaker and is the President using that money to shore up Medicare for our senior citizens? Are they using that money to shore up Social Security for our seniors? No. Theyve now created a new entitlement that we know we can call the mother of all entitlements. So not only are they not solving the problems that we have. theyre creating new entitlements. which is going to add to the fiscal problem that were already in. So not only are they borrowing and spending more. theyre doing so recklessly. while not dealing with the issues that we all know. everybody knows we have to deal with. So that just adds insult to injury. And when you mentioned that about remember what happened in Greece. it got to the point where then the market said. were not going toyour debt is so high that were not going to buy it unless you pay much higher interest rates. And it gets to the point where then it becomes this vicious circle where all youre doing is paying interest. you know. like people get into with credit cards. This administration. this President are doing exactly the same thing to our country. And the American people are starting to understand. World leaders are starting to tell the United States. slow down. What are you guys doing? And yet. this Congress. and our President who. I guessI dont knowI just dont exactly understand what theyre looking at. Theyre looking at the same numbers that were looking at. And the things theyve done have been dismal failures. I mentioned obviously the stimulus. But lets talk about one more. How about the billions of dollars that the taxpayers dished out to the car companies. automobile companies? Remember. in order for them to not go bankrupt. all right? So what happened? They didnt go bankrupt? No. they actually did go bankrupt. but after the taxpayer. whos struggling. by the way. and theyre losing their jobs. and theres no Federal bailout for them. and theyre losing their homes. and theres no Federal bailout for them. No. no. no. Take their money to bail out the auto companies because we cant let them go bankrupt. And they went bankrupt anyway. So I dont know. Thats not a failure? Only in Washington do you say Im going to spend all this money and its going to stop unemployment from going above 8 percent. and then it goes way above 8 percent and they dont call that failure. Only in Washington. Only in Washington do you take taxpayers hardearned money. say that you are going to stop these auto companies from going bankrupt. and then they go bankrupt anyway and you say. oh. we got to do more of the same. Its nuts. Its insane. But everybody has realized. everybody. including world leadersagain I repeat myself. and then I will stopbut when you have world leaders of France saying to the United States of America you are borrowing and spending too much. if thats not a wakeup call. then what will it take for this President and this Congress to wake up? And you are right. thats why they are not presenting a budget. because their numbers are frankly unsustainable. The American people would go ballistic if they saw their proposals. But you know something? The American people know whats going on anyway. Thank you for your time.