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Congresswoman Betty McCollum logo

Congresswoman McCollum's Remarks on the Republican Budget Proposal

March 28, 2012
Speech

This Republican budget is a political document. It is the House Republican's platform for November. This GOP platform puts our economy and millions of jobs at risk. They gut protections for seniors and families in need. And, they abandon local communities at a time when Washington should be a partner for opportunity and economic growth.

  • This Republican platform cuts student loans and grants for higher education by $166 billion.
  • This Republican budget forces seniors to pay out of pocket an average of $600 additional – every year – for medications they need, because the GOP re-opens and throws seniors back into the Medicare Part D donut hole.
  • And, this budget drives America into an enormous GOP pothole, gutting federal transportation investments by 25%, abandoning communities and businesses that need improved infrastructure to remain competitive.

After this Republican budget cuts regular folks, it then protects and showers benefits on the wealthiest and most privileged – millionaires and billionaires. This Republican platform should really be called the "millionaires manifesto" because it will borrow billions from Communist China to guarantee every millionaire a tax cuts worth at least $400,000 – all added to our national debt.

This Republican budget gives oil companies $21 billion in taxpayer funded subsidies while gouge working Americans at the pump and make record profits. If the GOP budget sounds extreme, it is only because it reflects the core values of House Republicans – protect the rich, cut-off the poor, and walk away from the middle class.

Democrats have a budget that prioritizes deficit reduction and invests in the middle class. Democrats strengthen our American competitiveness by investing in:

  • education
  • basic research
  • modern infrastructure
  • AND, clean energy

These investments will create jobs, sustain our economic recovery, and help shape the New American Economy.

I urge the American people, and my colleagues, to reject the GOP millionaires manifesto and stand with the Democrats' plan for strong economic recovery.

Issues:Appropriations & BudgetEducation