John B. Breaux: “I will use a few minutes to talk about where we are on the question of economic stimulus. It is appropriate to say where…”

“I will use a few minutes to talk about where we are on the question of economic stimulus. It is appropriate to say where we are is where we have been. The phrase ``been there, done that'' comes to mind, and I think it is very appropriate. When we left for the holidays, the recess that we enjoyed back home with our families, we left the Senate in a situation where neither side had a sufficient number of votes to move on something that was significantly important to the American people. It is clear we as a nation are in difficult economic times. I imagine people back home wonder whether Congress is going to do anything about it. I wonder whether sometimes we have the capacity to do anything about it because of the situation we find ourselves in. It is interesting and important to point out that neither side has the ability to do whatever they want. We as Democrats do not control the White House. We as Democrats do not control the House of Representatives. We as Democrats do not have the 60 votes in this body in order to accomplish things that we might like to do if the other side insists on filibustering that effort. On the other side of the coin, it is also important to note that the Republicans do not have the ability either to do whatever they want in these areas. They, too, do not have 60 votes to push through what they think is an appropriate remedy to the economic conditions we find ourselves in.”