Wednesday, December 19, 2001
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Wednesday, December 19, 2001 |
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Miller slaps party on lack of stimulus plan vote U.S. Sen. Zell Miller of Georgia delivered the following remarks last week on the Senate floor criticizing the Senate's failure to allow a vote on an economic stimulus package before adjourning for the holidays: "Madam President, the decision not to have a straight up-or-down vote on the economic stimulus bill and let the majority of this Senate prevail - regardless of its makeup - is a mistake. "It's a mistake for the party that denies the vote and it is a loss for this country and the folks who would have been helped. "Why do we always have to act like we're in a football game where there has to be a winner and a loser? Why can't we have both parties the winners? "I'm a half-a-loaf kind of guy and whether it's 75 percent or 65 percent or 50 percent, that's always better than 0 percent. "You can eat half a loaf. Having no loaf at all may make a political point, but in the end, somebody goes hungry. "This bill is not the first House bill. I did not support that bill and I would never, ever have voted for it. "This package does not include everything either side wanted instead it represents a reasonable compromise. "Some say that speeding up the reduction of the tax rates from 27 percent to 25 percent is just helping the wealthy. Nothing could be further from the truth. "The folks who would benefit from this are folks who earn as little as $27,000 a year and going up to $67,000 a year. For married couples, this rate reduction would help those who earn between $47,000 to $112,000 a year. "Madam President, these are not the wealthy or the rich. These are middle-income Americans. Many are our friends who are members of organized labor. "And let us not forget, this bill also includes a $300 rebate for those who did not get anything from the earlier tax cut. "On the health insurance piece of this, we recognized the need to help the unemployed by providing health insurance for them. "This is a very dramatic change and it was welcomed by many Republicans and Democrats alike. "Some argued that the best way to give laid-off workers access to health care is to provide a 75 percent subsidy for COBRA premiums, as well as access to state Medicaid programs. "Others disagreed, and preferred a broader tax credit for health insurance premiums. "This package falls somewhere in between providing a 60 percent advanceable, refundable tax credit for all health insurance. "It is not a whole loaf for anyone, but it represents a practical solution and is the best way to do what we all want help workers before it is too late. "The package also includes help for state governments something our governors and legislatures right now desperately need and want. "It provides almost $5 billion in payments to state Medicaid programs. This doesn't represent everything states or many of us wanted. I was hoping to get a fix for the upper payment limit. "But again Madam President, it is half a loaf. As it is now, we have no loaf. We have no loaf at all. We don't even have a slice. "Who was it who said, 'Let them eat cake? ...' "Thank you, Madam President."
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