Katie Porter: “I have never supported a tax increase, and I supported the Reagan tax cuts which came with the promise of spending cuts…”

“I have never supported a tax increase, and I supported the Reagan tax cuts which came with the promise of spending cuts to follow which never materialized. No one should believe that the Castle-Upton package is more than a fig leaf that allows Congress to rationalize cutting taxes before balancing the budget. We have seen deficit reduction packages before. Gramm Rudman promised a balanced budget by 1991, and yet it is 1995 and we have an ongoing $200 billion deficit. No, Mr. Chairman, we have to get the priorities straight. As much as I would like to support a tax cut now, I refuse to require our children and grandchildren to pay for it by adding its $189 billion cost to the deficit. Some argue that the tax cuts will stimulate the economy and pay for themselves. We've been down that road before, too, Mr. Chairman. Dynamic scoring may make us feel good about doing what we want to do, but is not a conservative approach. In working to reduce deficits, we should never assume things that may not come true. We should be cautious in our predictions. We should be conservative. Mr. Speaker, I supported the rule because in signing the Contract With America I promised to bring this bill and all the others before the House for a vote during the first 100 days of this Congress. But the contract did not require us to support the legislation, nor would I have signed it if it did. There is no ground swell for tax cuts across America.”