Congresswoman Maxine Waters Speaks Out Against "Budget Control Act,” or 2011 Debt Ceiling Deal

Mr. Speaker, I must congratulate the Tea Party for extorting the deal made in their image, and their image alone. The cuts will be deep, they will be lasting, and they will weaken an already-depressed economy.

What's clear is that the Tea Party is so ideologically driven to kill government that they're willing to kill the private sector, kill jobs, and kill growth in the process.

What's more, these cuts will be loaded onto the backs of seniors and the American middle-class, all while asking the wealthiest among us to sacrifice nothing. Once again, the rich will feel no pain and the vulnerable will pay for their spoils.

Mr. Speaker, the process in which we got here has undermined our democratic system. While Democrats and the President negotiated in good faith, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle demonstrated a craven willingness to risk financial collapse for their extreme demands. As Democrats conceded time after time, and provision after provision, on this deal, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle just continued to issue new demands, all the while compromising nothing.

Moreover, I am very concerned with the precedent set by this "Super Committee," whose establishment threatens our democratic process with its unconstitutional structure.

Mr. Speaker: I can honestly say – if this bill passes, it may be the single worse piece of public policy to ever come out of this institution. I cannot support this bill, or this rule, and I urge my Democratic colleagues not to be complicit in a Republican plan to eventually cut Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and investment in our future, all while asking the rich to sacrifice nothing.

Thank you, I yield back the balance of my time.