Harkin Takes to Senate Floor to Discuss Republican Budget Proposal for 2012 and Beyond

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today spoke on the Senate Floor regarding the misguided Republican budget proposal for 2012 and beyond that attacks America’s middle class and dismantles Medicare and Medicaid.

“This is an unprecedented assault on middle-class and working Americans,” said Harkin. “It would drive down Americans’ standard of living, shred the economic safety net, reduce access to health care and higher education, and damage our public schools. And let’s be clear, this is not about reducing budget deficits. Republican governors and Republicans in Congress are demanding budget cuts for the middle class at the same time they continue to push for cuts in tax rates for corporations and the wealthy.”

His full remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow.

“Mr. President, there’s an old saying: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste.’ Republicans wholeheartedly agree. Republicans are seizing on the budget crisis as a pretext for ramming through their long-standing ideological wish list. In Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere, Republicans are using the budget crisis as a pretext for destroying public-sector unions and privatizing public services. Here on Capitol Hill, they are using it to try to defund health care reform . . . to dismantle Medicare and Medicaid . . . and, yes, to cut tax rates even more deeply for the wealthiest people in our society.

“This is an unprecedented assault on middle-class and working Americans. It would drive down Americans’ standard of living, shred the economic safety net, reduce access to health care and higher education, and damage our public schools.

“And let’s be clear, this is not about reducing budget deficits. Republican governors and Republicans in Congress are demanding budget cuts for the middle class at the same time they continue to push for cuts in tax rates for corporations and the wealthy.

“Call this what it is: Republicans are waging naked class warfare. Republican governors have the gall to attack teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees as – in the words of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels – ‘the privileged elite.’ Why are they the ‘privileged elite?’ Because they actually have pensions and access to health care! This is the worst kind of demagoguery against loyal, hard-working public servants – our friends and neighbors.

“Meanwhile, as Republicans at the state and national level go after the health care and retirement security of middle-class Americans, they are going all out to pass new cuts in tax rates for you know who.

“The Republican governor in Michigan has called for a $1.8 billion cut in corporate taxes. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has called for $200 million in tax cuts. Here in Congress, just months ago, Republicans demanded and got hundreds of billions of dollars in new tax cuts, largely for the wealthy. And, now, House Republicans are calling for the biggest tax-rate cut in history for the wealthiest Americans and corporations, reducing their tax rate from 35 percent down to 25 percent. All of these tax-cut proposals will make deficits far worse. Indeed, the tax cuts congressional Republicans secured in December will add a whopping $354 billion to the deficit just this year, and even more next year. Making budget matters even worse, House Republicans voted to repeal the health reform law, which would add $210 billion to the deficit over the next decade.

“Yet, now, these very same politicians claim – completely insincerely – to be worried about the deficit!

“Well, they are not fooling anyone. This is not about deficit reduction. This is all about ideology. Republicans are taking a meat ax to programs for the middle class – everything from cancer research to Pell Grants to health care. It’s the same old GOP game plan: Give huge, unaffordable tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, and give budget cuts to the middle class and the most vulnerable people in our society, including seniors and people with disabilities.

“Mr. President, this new Republican budget proposal gives new meaning to the term extreme. Let’s look at what they have proposed.

• Eliminating Medicare, creating a new voucher program with seniors paying out-of-pocket for many life-saving health care costs; this would raise premiums and cut benefits for 25 million seniors. By design, the vouchers would not keep up with rising health care costs, and so would lose value every year, with senior paying the difference or ending up uninsured.

• Reopening the prescription drug donut whole, requiring seniors to pay $3,500 more for prescription drugs.

• Block-granting Medicaid and cutting $1 trillion in health care services, which would end vital services that seniors depend on like coverage for nursing homes and home health aides. By shifting costs to states, this would worsen state budget deficits and lead to higher property taxes.

• 17 Governors sent letter to Congressional leaders opposing this: It ‘would shift costs and risks to states. . . . States would be forced to bear all costs after hitting the annual cap just as the baby boom generation is entering their retirement years with likely steep increases in their health care and long term care costs. The ensuing funding shortfall would leave states with an untenable choice between increasing taxes, cutting other state programs, or cutting eligibility, benefits, or provider payments.’

• The Republican budget proposal doesn’t stop at dismantling the safety net and programs that seniors rely on for a secure retirement. It makes profound and destructive cuts to the entire range of programs that underpin the American middle-class standard of living – everything from education . . . student grants and loans . . . law enforcement . . . clean air and clean water . . . food safety . . . biomedical research . . . highways, bridges, and infrastructure . . . in short, all of the programs and services that Americans rely on for a decent way of life.

“Mr. President, the Republican assault on the middle class is breathtaking both in both scope and depth. And it could not come at a worse time for working Americans, who are already under enormous strain . . . who already fear that the American Dream is slipping away.

“It’s no secret that people are working harder and longer than ever before, but they still can't seem to meet the costs of basic everyday needs, like education, transportation, and housing, let alone save enough to support themselves in old age. Even before the Great Recession – during boom times – working people weren’t sharing in our nation's prosperity.

“Productivity has gone up, but workers aren't seeing more money in their paychecks. Real wages peaked in the mid-1970s and have remained essentially stagnant ever since. And over the past generation, those in the top 1 percent have seen their incomes soar – more than tripling – while the middle class is barely scraping by.

“People are profoundly anxious about the future, and is it any wonder? They’re worried that they won't be able to put a roof over their heads or food on the table, let alone pay for their children’s college education. And they’re right to be worried. If we learned anything from the Great Recession, it's that most families – even those solidly in the middle class – are just a pink-slip away from economic catastrophe.

“Everyone keeps talking about a recovery, but many of our friends and neighbors aren’t seeing it. Corporate America is sitting on over a trillion dollars in cash while 14 million Americans are out of work. And that’s just the official number, which doesn’t count the over 15 million workers who are underemployed or have been shut out of the job market.

“That doesn’t look like a recovery to me, not a real one anyway. It looks like a repeat of the last recession, when the entire recovery went to the wealthiest and working people were left behind.

“Now, in this context, with working Americans just barely making ends meet, just barely holding on to a decent way of life, the Republicans have proposed a budget that – make no mistake – will destroy the middle class in this great country.

“Many Republicans apparently sincerely believe that, as public sector workers and others lose their jobs, this will actually be good for the economy. Two weeks ago, the Republican staff on the Joint Economic Committee released a report arguing that widespread layoffs would actually increase jobs. Let me quote from the report: ‘A smaller government workforce increases the supply of educated, skilled workers for private firms, thus lowering labor costs.’

“As Nobel Prize-winning economist points out, this is a throwback to the Depression-era Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon – the idea that by driving down wages and benefits, we will increase employment. As Krugman points out, this is now ‘the official doctrine of the GOP.’

“Mr. President, I couldn’t disagree more strenuously with this approach. The future of our nation depends on our ability to ensure that everyone benefits from economic growth. That means putting policies in place that build a strong and vibrant middle class – a middle class with good jobs, fair wages, and benefits. That’s the America I want to see – one where people who work hard and play by the rules can live a decent life.

“Tragically, the Republican budget plan would take us in exactly the opposite direction. It would gut the whole range of programs that support the middle class in this country. It would dismantle the safety net for seniors, for those with disabilities, and for the poor – a safety net that has been painstakingly created since the administration of FDR. Adding insult to injury this budget plan makes a mockery of the concept of shared sacrifice to reduce deficits; Republicans are demanding that we slash the top tax rate for corporations and the wealthy from 35 percent to 25 percent!

“Mr. President, the Republican budget is built on bad priorities, bad policies, and just plain bad values. As columnist E.J. Dionne points out: Americans can now see ‘how radical the new conservatives in Washington are, and the extent to which some politicians would transfer even more resources from the have-nots and have-a-littles to the have-a-lots.’

“The American people will not stand for this unwise, unbalanced, unfair assault on their economic security and way of life. I serve notice, now, that I will oppose these grotesquely misguided proposals in every way I can. And I certainly will not be alone!”