Barbara Boxer: “If you embrace the idea that deficits are a good thing for the country, red ink is a good thing for this country, you…”

“If you embrace the idea that deficits are a good thing for the country, red ink is a good thing for this country, you will love this budget; go ahead and vote for it and that is fine and we will talk about it when we go home. If you like the idea that we should ignore an enormous cost that is staring us in the face as our beautiful men and women are standing on the brink of war, if you think this budget should ignore those costs, then you should vote for this budget because this is an Alice-in-Wonderland-type of budget. The whole country is focused on what is about to happen--but not in this budget. I have seen comments made by friends of mine from the other body on the other side of the aisle that said hurry up and get this through before we have to deal with the costs of the war. When I hear Senator Frist say let's push this through fast, that, in my opinion, ties the knot here. Vote for this budget if you think we should ignore the costs of the war. Vote for this budget if you love deficits. If you like breaking promises to our children on No Child Left Behind, cutting afterschool programs and the like, vote for this budget because that is what you are doing.”