Judd Gregg: “I commend the Senator from Georgia for his excellent statement. He presented the themes and the basic philosophy which…”

“I commend the Senator from Georgia for his excellent statement. He presented the themes and the basic philosophy which are behind this bill, the deficit reduction bill, which includes that we, as a government, need to come close to living within our means. Hopefully, we could live completely within our means. Secondly, the American people should not always have money taken out of their pockets to support the largess of the Federal Government. We should have a tax burden that is reasonable, but to the extent we can, we should allow Americans to keep their hard-earned money and allow them to make decisions as to where their money should go. If we increase taxes dramatically, we basically reduce the incentive of people to go out and be productive, which translates directly into a loss of jobs because people are not willing to take risks, are not willing to be entrepreneurs because if their tax burden is so high, the practical effect is they do not create jobs. A job, of course, is the ultimate economic benefit for any family. So I congratulate the Senator from Georgia. I think his statement was right on. I especially appreciate his comments relative to trying to put in context the comments of the Senator from New York because the Senator from New York used a few hyperboles, referring to ``The Grinch That Stole Christmas.'' ``How the Grinch Stole Christmas,'' of course, is a classic story. First, I congratulate her.…”