Joe Biden: “Americans deserve a tax cut. They deserve a large tax cut. And in this time of budget surpluses, we can afford hundreds…”

“Americans deserve a tax cut. They deserve a large tax cut. And in this time of budget surpluses, we can afford hundreds of billions of dollars of tax relief. But Americans deserve other things at least as much. They deserve honesty in budgeting. They deserve a government that will face up to the fundamental choices that have to be made in writing a ten-year budget plan. Americans deserve a strong national defense, safe streets, effective schools, world-class health care, clean air and water, a safe and efficient transportation system. I must vote against this tax bill because it does not honestly face the serious choices that still confront us in this era of surpluses, because it sacrifices virtually all other priorities--and some of our fundamental values--to the single-minded pursuit of cutting taxes. Despite what some would have us believe, we cannot afford to do everything for everybody all at the same time. We cannot cut taxes by nearly 2 trillion dollars in the next ten years--a number that actually doubles in the following decade--and continue to provide the fundamental governmental functions that Americans need and deserve.”