Political Quotes

“It would make it a relevant hypothetical because CBO is mandated in the bill to come up with the direct cost. In order to have a discussion of when the first fiscal year is triggered, I am saying this is the CBO conclusion. Assume for the moment that you do not disagree with the conclusion. Assume for the moment that there is no basis to disagree with the CBO. Assume for the moment that everybody accepts it. This is the given I want to debate. This is the conclusion of the CBO. And I add further that every single Member of the U.S. Congress says: That sure looks good to us; they have really done their work, and they have consulted with every 1 of the 87,000 local governments in the last 2 weeks. They have taken into consideration all of the factors that could be taken into consideration. Is there a current mandate or is there not? They have done everything perfectly right, and this is their conclusion. My question is: What is the first fiscal year? I can understand if the Senator says, well, maybe the CBO is wrong. But that is a different issue. My assumption is that the CBO is correct, that they have done their homework and everybody concludes that is a very good, solid estimate. They have done their work and they have read the bill correctly. So much hangs on when is the first fiscal year that this mandate is effective, and we better understand going in that we are going to have points of order on this floor. We are going to ask that poor Parliamentarian up there to rule.…”