Asa Hutchinson: “I also applaud President Bush for his leadership on the tax relief issue. He has come forward with a plan that I think…”

“I also applaud President Bush for his leadership on the tax relief issue. He has come forward with a plan that I think will have the support of the American people and will provide them much needed relief. Senator Enzi very correctly called the huge surplus that is projected over the next 10 years a tax overcharge. That is precisely what it is. The CBO has estimated the Federal surplus will total $5.6 trillion over the next 10 years. Setting aside Social Security surplus revenues, the Federal surplus will total $3.1 trillion. So if you take away the Social Security--put it in that lockbox--you still have $3.1 trillion over that same period. Our country and our Government has experienced a surplus for the last 3 years running, and we have paid down the national debt now by over $363 billion. It is clear, we have to continue that path of fiscal responsibility. We have paid down the public debt $363 billion. President Bush has pointed to a very real problem that exists, and that is the increase in personal debt, consumer debt, in this Nation. One of the imperatives for providing tax relief to low- and middle- income working Americans is that that increasing personal debt, consumer debt, in this country can be addressed while we simultaneously address the problem of the national debt. The Government also has an obligation to the American taxpayer who is now paying more in taxes than the Government is spending every year.”