Date: 2015-03-25
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to respond to my good friend on the other side of the aisle. Economist Paul Krugman. Nobel Prize winner. did not support the Republican policies that led to the red. deep valley when we were losing 800.000 jobs a month. He supported many of the proposals that President Obama and the Democrats implemented. which led to growth and more jobs. The President and the Democrats will not be satisfied until every American who wants a job has a job. yet numbers dont lie. and this chart. which is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. shows policies that led to 800.000 jobs lost per month to. now. an economy that is growing. I admit that Democrats will not be happy until it grows even more. but 12 million private sector jobs have been added. I want to go back to a budget that. I believe. will turn this blue into the red again. We have to continue with the blue policies that led to economic opportunities and job growth. Now. the Republican budget document claims that it aims to make sure that government keeps the promises that it has made. and then it proceeds to lay out plans to demolish Medicare. Medicare is one of the most successful and universally popular programs ever designed. It provides highquality health care for Americans over the age of 65. yet this Republican budget would replace this program with a voucher program. giving seniors a coupon to help defray the cost of private insurance. Seniors would have to immediately pay new copays for preventative care and much higher costs for prescription drugs. They dont say how they are going to help the seniors. They are just going to give them this voucher program. Can private insurance companies provide better coverage? They dont know. They dont say anything about it. They just give them vouchers and let them go to private insurance. They dont say whether their program will cost more in outofpocket expenses. but I think it definitely will. Dismantling health care is a radical proposition. My guess is that. if Congress tries to take apart Medicare. millions of Americans will storm Capitol Hill. Lets remember what happened in the early 2000s when thenPresident George W. Bush tried to partially privatize Social Security. Like Medicare. Social Security is extremely popular with seniors because it works. and it makes a huge. positive difference in their lives. For many older Americans. Social Security is the only source of retirement income they will have. and for others. it is a critical supplement to their savings. Republicans have previously tried to privatize it. Lets be honest with the American people. If my Republican colleagues want to dismantle Medicare. they should come right out and say it and say it loudly. In their budget proposal. our friends across the aisle complain about how long it has taken our economy to recover from the Great Recession. Remember that it bubbled up and blew up on their watch. The recession was on their watch with their proposals. Their budget talks a great deal about accountability. yet nowhere do our Republican colleagues indicate that they should be held accountable for the mistakes and the mismanagement that led to the Great Recession. To the $17 trillion in household wealth that was lost. thankfully. most of that household wealth has been regained. and that is thanks to the Obama recovery. For my Republican friends who want to brush away any mention of the failed Republican policies of the past that brought us to the verge of economic collapse. I would remind you of the prophesyof the wordsof a great philosopher who said: Those who do not know the past are condemned to repeat it. I do not want to go back to the past of the red. deep valley that this chart shows. Republicans promises in the past of prosperity through austerity have proven to be hollow. Democratic policies have produced an economy that has just added more than 200 private sector jobs every month for 12 straight months. That is the first time that has happened since 1977. Republicans predictions that the passage of the Recovery Act would produce economic doom. hyperinflation. and the collapse of the dollar were all proven wrong. Democratic policies have produced an economy that has been growing steadily. with low inflation. a strong dollar. cheap gas. a deficit that has shrunk by twothirds. and a Dow Jones index that has tripled. Republicans lamented that the passage of the Affordable Care Act would make health care unaffordable. It turned out to be totally untrue. The annual increase in healthcare premiums has dropped to a 50year low. Now. I would like to take a short detour to give some advice for home buyers. If you ever consider buying a new house that is built on a blueprint like this Republican budget blueprint. please do not do it. Save your money. Look for a home that is built on a solid foundation. Look for a house that has strong walls and a solid roof. Look for one that will protect your family for a long time. Dont buy a house built on a blueprint that is as shoddy as this one. They are going back to their same failed policy. This budget is a fiasco. and the numbers do not add up. I am pleased that even some of my Republican colleagues have had the courage to say so. Some have called it budgetary tricks. gimmicks. funny money. slush funds. but the truth is far worse than that. The Acting CHAIR. The time of the gentlewoman has expired.