During the holidays, Capitol Hill was a virtual ghost town.  But since Congress returned to work on January 23^rd, Capitol Hill has again become a hub of activity.  The same is not true of the Mack plant in Winnsboro or the Wells Lamont plant in Manning.  These facilities have closed their doors for good, and their workers have joined the 111,000 South Carolinians and 7 million Americans that are currently unemployed.  It is imperative that Congress passes an economic stimulus package, to provide real relief to those workers from the Mack and Wells Lamont facilities and others like them.   

            Before Christmas, talks of an economic stimulus package stalled because the House-passed plan was heavy on corporate tax breaks and provided little direct assistance for those who have truly been affected.  I hope my colleagues took some time over the holidays to visit with those constituents whose holidays were anything but happy.   With one exception, I have come home every weekend since September 11^th.  I have seen the steady decline in the economy and increase in the number of people who have found themselves in dire straights.  I have read the headlines about state budget shortfalls, and know that implementing the Bush tax cut plan will take another $58 million from South Carolina’s budget. 

Similar stories are playing out throughout the country and I hope my colleagues returned to Capitol Hill with a renewed commitment to finding tangible and immediate relief for those who have been hardest hit by the accelerated economic downturn that has gripped our country since September 11^th.

            Specifically, I would like to see an economic stimulus package that includes a repeal, or at least a delay, in the President’s tax cut package.  The budget surplus has been gutted.  The Congressional Budget Office has adjusted surplus projections downward by $4 trillion.  

It doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that implementing a $1.35 trillion tax cut plan now will wipe out the surplus and leave us with no resources to deal with the crisis stemming from 9-11.  To “stay the course” knowing it will skyrocket deficit spending and jeopardize Social Security is irresponsible. 

            But determined not to break a “no new taxes” pledge like his father, the current President Bush says the tax cuts will be repealed over “my dead body.”  The irony here is two-fold.  First, this is not a tax increase.  It is postponing the implementation of an enormous tax cut, aimed mostly at the wealthiest one percent of our country who don’t need the government’s assistance.  Second, it wasn’t the broken tax promise that did in George the Elder.  It was his tunnel vision focused only on the Gulf War while he ignored the recession at home.  Remember, “It’s the economy stupid?”  In his misdirected effort not to repeat his father’s mistakes, the current President is doing exactly that.    Even his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush recognizes the difference and has postponed tax cuts he pushed through in his state in order to ease their budget shortfall.

            Instead of making the tax cuts off-limit, an economic stimulus package should extend unemployment benefits and provide health care relief to unemployed workers and their families.  We should focus on job creation programs like developing the infrastructure needed to secure our nation’s safety and security.

            As the unemployment lines grow, the public’s contempt for gimmicks and political posturing increase steadily.  Our nation is committed to fighting the war on terrorism abroad.  We must also provide physical and fiscal security for our citizens at home. 

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