Page:Congressional Record - 2010-12-10.pdf/24

S8752 December 10, 2010 side of the aisle to say: Wait, before you close the deal, before you shut the door, before you stop the printing press, please put in the people in America who make over $1 million.

Now, for that $50 billion, there are lots of ways that we could save if we could correct this deal. I don't think we can. But if we could, as the Senator knows, do we have men and women in the military—does he know what their COLA will be this year? I think it is only 1.4 percent.

Mr. SANDERS.That is what my understanding is. I think a lot of the folks in the military are very upset about that.

Ms. LANDRIEU.Every person in uniform is only getting a COLA this year of 1.4 percent. Did anybody over there not think about this when they raised their hand to say let's give it to millionaires? Those in the military most certainly deserve a bonus. They are coming back without eyes or legs; they are leaving some of their limbs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Did anybody over there think about that?

The senior citizens for whom the Senator has been such an advocate are not seeing the kind of COLA they normally get. Talk about stimulus, I think every dollar you give to a senior citizen—wouldn't the Senator say—gets spent right away. They have to buy food with it. They are not going out perusing a yacht or an airplane they could or could not buy. They need to eat. They go to the corner drugstore; they need to get their medicine. They spend it. Yes, we give money to the poor on the Democratic side and the middle class because it is the right thing to do. It actually happens to be also the smart thing to do for the economy and for jobs.

So when people say the Senator has flip-flopped on taxes, I don't understand how to say it differently. I voted for tax cuts when we had a surplus. I am challenged about how to address this package—I most certainly want to extend it for the middle class and to extend help for the unemployment. People are unemployed not because they are lazy, for Heaven's sake. They are unemployed because there are no jobs for them. It is some of the longest term unemployment we have had in our Nation's history.

So the other side is making us feel— they say: We gave you the unemployment, so surely you should give us the tax breaks for millionaires. Is that really an equal trade? If somebody believes that actually—I have heard commentators say it on different networks. I have been on these news programs, and they say: You got the unemployment, so that is a fair trade.

If there is a Senator who thinks that, I would love them to say that next week. I think that would be great to have on the record. So this situation is what the Louisiana families in my State are facing. Obviously, I would like to provide tax relief for these families. We have less than 1.8 percent who are making over $200,000. I am checking right now to find out how many families in Louisiana actually make over $1 million. I was told it was 3,200. That number might be too high. The Senator from West Virginia told me that in his State it is 599 people who make over $1 million a year. Yet it looks like that is the package.

We are going to be in a tough situation, without amendments, having to vote for it. I will see what my constituents are saying over the weekend. I want to say one more thing about this inequity and turn it back over to the Senator from Vermont. Besides the other things that were put into the RECORD about the inequality, the challenges before our country right now, I came across some data, and I would like the Senator to be on the floor to listen to this.

Mr. SANDERS.I am not going anywhere. You can take as much time as you want.

Ms. LANDRIEU.I wasn't sure what his time was. I am chair of the Small Business Committee. I have many hearings, but I had one in the last 3 months and some of the testimony was startling to me. I wanted to share this with the Senator.

It is in the 2000 census data. Someone was testifying about why this recession was taking so long to get over. They were giving figures about the status of the economy and the wealth or incomes of broad sections of the population. They said sort of off the cuff— like, ho-hum, today is Monday.

They said: By the way, the average net worth, the median net worth of households in America, the average— median net worth—not income but net worth—of households is $67,000. That is very interesting. I thought it would be higher than that. That is taking what you own minus everything you owe, and the difference is your net worth. I thought people might have more than that in terms of equity in their homes, a couple hundred thousand. That was concerning to me.

I said: Do you have that broken down by race, by any chance?

They said: Yes, ma'am.

I said: Would you share it? And they did. I will share it with you because I have not recovered from what I heard. The gentlemen said to me: Well, for White families in America, the average median—50 percent more, 50 percent less—is $87,000. For Hispanic families, it is $8,000. For African-American families, it is $5,000. I want to repeat that. Fifty percent of all families in America who are Caucasian, their net worth is $67,000 or less. For Hispanic families in America, 50 percent of all Hispanic households, their net worth is $8,000. For AfricanAmerican families today, in 2010—40 years after the peak of the civil rights movement and 150 years or so after the Civil War and all the things we think we have done to try to get people in a more equal position in our society—it is $5,000. That is including home equity—or home ownership, I mean. Without home ownership, that net worth for African-American families falls to $1,000.

So when people say people are in pain and suffering and anxious and they can't buy anything, you wonder why. There is no cushion in a recession like this. How brutal is a recession to people who have so little a cushion? For a middle-class family of any race, if you lose your job, you can get unemployment, you have some equity in your home, or maybe you have some savings you can fall back on. There is a cushion, and you can bounce back up. How brutal is this recession to millions of families in America who have no cushion? They are just hitting hard rock. They are hitting steel. There is no cushion there. You wonder why people are angry. You wonder why this tea party movement is festering, why people are so angry. I understand that anger. I am so angry myself, I don't know what to do.

Mr. SANDERS.If I can interrupt my good friend, she is right. It is no great secret that her politics and mine aren't the same on many issues. She is down here speaking from her heart, coming from the State of Louisiana, which is not radically different from Vermont. We have a lot of struggling families.

I want to reiterate a point. She has been talking so effectively about the stress on the middle class and working families in her State and around the country. I want to reiterate this point. I am not here to pick on George W. Bush, but during his 8 years, the wealthiest 400 Americans—pretty high up guys; that "ain't" the middle class no matter how broadly you define that—their income more than doubled—got that—while their income tax rate dropped almost in half.

The wealthiest 400 Americans now earn an average of $345 million a year and pay an effective tax rate of 16.6 percent, on average. That is the lowest tax rate for wealthy individuals on record.

So the point is, Senator and I are talking about the people out in the real world who are working longer hours for lower wages. Median family income has declined. People are scared that for the first time in our modern history their kids will have a lower standard of living than they had. Is the Senator hearing that in Louisiana?

Ms. LANDRIEU.I am.

Mr. SANDERS.Senator is asking a simple question, and millions of people are asking the same question. The wealthiest people are becoming much richer, the middle class is declining, and poverty is increasing. Who decided? Who said billionaires need an extended tax break and a reduction in the estate tax? It is a very simple question she is asking. It is a very profound question because it speaks to what this country is all about. I didn't mean to interrupt.