House Republicans Deserve a Gold Medal for Hypocrisy
Rep. Lloyd Doggett Remarks as Delivered
House Floor
April 12, 2018
"Like some stormy sermon from Trump on the virtues of chastity, I believe these House Republicans today deserve a gold medal for hypocrisy. After approving their budget-busting, trickle-down, trillion-dollar tax breaks and refusing to pay a dime for their huge increases in military spending, they have the audacity to advance a balanced budget amendment.
"Choosing words over deeds, they shamelessly preach the gospel of "Do what I say, not what I do."
"I have already voted to seek a balanced budget when I voted against launching an unnecessary war on borrowed money. I voted for a balanced budget when I voted to reject the distorted Republican theology that when the question is taxes, less always means more. The more tax cut theology is proven wrong over and over and over again, the more the Republicans demand another tax cut to drive us ever deeper into debt.
"Dripping in red ink, Trump's tax bill that he is promoting right now at the White House certainly validates his boast that he is "the King of Debt" and that House Republicans are his supplicants. Our children and grandchildren are being saddled with over two trillion dollars more in debt over a decade just because of this one bill. All so that Trump, his wealthy buddies, and a few large multinational corporations can receive windfall tax breaks.
"For Trump and his congressional enablers, "fiscal responsibility" is just a hollow, political slogan used to undermine the vital education, health care, and retirement security initiatives like Medicare, which they have never truly supported. They would surely let Medicare "wither on the vine," as one of the King of Debt's loudest troubadours. Reject this proposal."