The Public Record
It is important to note this is a reprioritization within the budget. I happen to agree with this reprioritization, but it comes out of what is known as the 920 account, which means in order to pay for this, it is an across-the-board cut…
Well, I would say to the Senator from Illinois that when you bring a person here who has the capacity to add to the strength of a Microsoft, for example, which is probably our single biggest international producer of economic activity for…
What my amendment does, to make it clear, is it recaptures visas that are unused and it uses those visas now. It also specifically targets bringing in high-skilled nursing, people who are trained in the nursing facility area, which is very…
But there was $35 billion put in the mark that was available for stimulus. Is the Senator reallocating those dollars or is the Senator putting $3.5 billion on top of those dollars?
As a final question--I think it needs to be emphasized--is it not true that this doesn't exempt all estates? This exempts estates up to $10 million, which are probably going to be small businesses or small farms?
The Senator was pointing out that there are three elements of casualty loss. Two of them you are not taxed on and this one you are. And it is the ultimate casualty, dying.
So we aren't talking about the wealthiest Americans. We are talking about people with significant wealth, up to $10 million. But a family farm can easily be valued at $10 million. A small business, a restaurant could easily be valued at…
I wish to note the Senator from Illinois described these people as the lucky 7,000. They are dead. I guess only if you are from Chicago do you consider it lucky to be dead. They can still vote. I understand the Senator from Arizona feels…
CBO scores zero in this budget for money coming from the tax gap that is represented by Senator Conrad as existing. The point being, of course, that you can talk about the tax gap all you want; it would be nice if we could generate some…
But unfortunately, at the time, again, we were not within the budget window. But you are within the budget window, and you are taking credit for those tax extenders lapsing. Are you not taking credit for $400 billion under the baseline…
Reclaiming my time, the point is, there is a 5-year budget window. They start to expire in 2010, not in 2007; therefore, your budget has to deal with that expiration. My budget didn't have to deal with that expiration because it was not…
I completely agree. As Republicans, our top priority is to pass on prosperity and a strong economy to the next generation. We need to keep spending in check, take the needed steps to address entitlement reform, and keep the economy growing…