Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) took to the House floor to strongly oppose the Republican Budget Resolution, which would cut jobs, voucherize Medicare, and further extend devastating cuts to social services.

“If budgets are truly a reflection of our values,” asked Nadler, “then what does it say about the priorities of House Republicans when their budget increases health care costs for seniors, cuts 2 million jobs, and hits middle class families with a tax increase in order to subsidize another tax cut for the rich?  The American people rejected this extremist ideology last fall, and I hope that my colleagues follow their lead and reject this bill today.”

Watch the video of Nadler’s remarks here.

Below is the full text of Nadler’s remarks, as prepared:

“Mr. Chairman, I rise today to oppose the radical Republican budget, which is merely a repackaging of the same extreme agenda that the American people rejected last fall.

“Simply put, this bill is a disaster.

“The House Republicans’ budget would again try to end Medicare as we know it by replacing the guarantee of health coverage with a private voucher program that would reduce benefits.  This throws seniors back onto the mercy of the private insurance market, while every year giving them less and less of the health benefits they have earned through a lifetime of hard work.

“The Republican budget would not only make permanent the arbitrary, across-the-board budget cuts known as ‘sequestration,’ it would go further—making even more savage cuts to domestic programs.  Critical social services like food stamps, college assistance for low-income families, Section 8 housing, home heating assistance, and Medicaid—all would face drastic cuts.  Under the Republican proposal, our transportation investments would be cut by 20% over the next 10 years, exacerbating the challenges posed by our outdated roads, bridges, and airports.  The bill also completely eliminates support for PBS, NPR, AmeriCorps, and the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

“The Republican budget makes all of these cuts while refusing to cut a dime of military spending.  What’s worse, the Republican plan actually reverses planned reductions to military spending by increasing cuts to vital social programs—a callously unfair proposal that will have terrible consequences for millions of American families.

“To add insult to injury, the bill before us today would make sweeping, regressive changes to the tax code which would raise taxes on middle class families by up to $3,000.  Millionaires, however, would actually see a tax cut that averages $245,000 a year.  This is just wrong.  Working families should never have to pay more just so the rich can pay less, which is just one more reason why we must defeat this bill.

“According to the Economic Policy Institute, the net effect of all of these policies would decrease GDP by 1.7%, resulting in 2 million jobs lost in 2014 alone.  If budgets are truly a reflection of our values, then what does it say about the priorities of House Republicans when their budget increases health care costs for seniors, cuts 2 million jobs, and hits middle class families with a tax increase in order to subsidize another tax cut for the rich?

“The American people rejected this extremist ideology last fall, and I hope that my colleagues follow their lead and reject this bill today.

“But the larger problem with the Republican budget is that it will increase unemployment and savage Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs that families depend upon, in order to fix a deficit ‘crisis’ which we have already tamed.  In 2009 the deficit was 10.1% of GDP.  By next year, it will be down to 5.3%.  This is the largest and fastest reduction in deficits since the demobilization after World War II.

“We no longer, if we ever did, have a deficit crisis.  What we have is a jobs crisis, with 12 million people searching for employment, and almost 5 million Americans without a job for more than 6 months.

“In contrast with the Republican spending plan, the Back to Work Budget addresses the jobs crisis head-on by creating nearly 7 million jobs in the first year by making historic investments in our infrastructure, schools, and transit.  It would enable states and local governments to hire laid-off teachers, cops, and firefighters, putting them back to work in strengthening our communities.

“The Back to Work Budget would preserve our commitment to seniors by making no cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security, while reducing health care costs by negotiating drug prices, increasing competition in the health care marketplace, and reducing fraud.

“Our budget would also adopt a common-sense tax system that asks the wealthiest to pay their fair share while lowering the tax burden on middle class families.  We would also extend the Making Work Pay tax credit to help low-wage workers get back to work and providing for their families.

“Basic economics tells us that government should pay off debt during good times while protecting jobs and middle class security during bad times.  By balancing revenues with investments and creating millions of new jobs, the Back to Work Budget would produce significant economic growth while reducing the deficit by $4.4 trillion over 10 years.

“But callous, unbalanced cuts to domestic programs, particularly of the magnitude that House Republicans are proposing, would spell disaster for our economic recovery.

“While GOP leaders claim to be making tough choices when it comes to our spending priorities, again and again they seem to only be making the wrong choices.  They choose tax breaks for millionaires and the largest corporations over tax fairness for the middle class.  They choose to reduce access to health care by voucherizing Medicare instead of protecting the benefits that seniors have earned through a lifetime of hard work.  They choose to avoid required reductions in military spending  by instead cutting programs that feed hungry children, heat family homes, and make college affordable.

“Conservative governments in Europe have instituted the same austerity policies offered by the Republican budget.  The result has been a double-dip recession and 12% unemployment.  We should learn from their stupidity.”

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