Political Quotes

“Those provisions would still stand. What the Senator is basically saying is that the billion-plus would go to people who essentially, for the most part, send their kids to private schools, K through 12, and rather than give them this tax writeoff, if you will, we should use the money to fulfill our commitment for special education. That is the bottom line. I want to ask my friend two questions. I don't know if he spoke about the meeting with the Governors today, but if he has not, I think it would be an important point, since he spoke to many of us about this today--what the message of the Governors is vis-a-vis this special ed and what it would mean. He has already said what it means to my State to get more funding for special ed. We are in the hole now by several billion dollars. So this amendment is very important. The second question, perhaps, is a more philosophical one but one to which I would be interested in hearing an answer. I think if we are honest with ourselves, we know the people who could afford to set aside $2,000 a year in our society each and every year are the ones who are living or earning more than, shall we say, most middle-class people because we know the figures. If we are honest with ourselves, to set aside $2,000--and that is after-tax money--in an account where, by the way, you don't get any real tax benefit, except the buildup is not taxed, so it comes out to roughly a few dollars a year--who are we really helping?”