Cord Byrd: “I will vote against this Republican tax cut plan. I cannot conceive of a more ill-advised fiscal plan for the Nation…”

“I will vote against this Republican tax cut plan. I cannot conceive of a more ill-advised fiscal plan for the Nation over the next 10 years than the Republican tax cut bill. I say this for a number of reasons. Having seen the National debt explode from less than $1 trillion on the day that President Reagan took office to over $5.6 trillion today, we should have learned that the supply-side economic theories of the Reagan-Bush years, which called for massive tax cuts together with a massive defense build-up, while at the same time balancing the federal budget, are pure, unadulterated hogwash. They didn't work then; they won't work now. Thankfully, due to a number of factors--for example, the fiscal policies of the Federal Reserve, and improvements in the productivity of the Nation's businesses--we have been able not only to stem the tide of red ink that ran into the triple-digit billion-dollar levels for each of the Reagan-Bush years but, if the latest projections of both the OMB and CBO pan out, we also can look forward to huge federal surpluses each year as far as the eye can see. That's good news, if those projections come true and if Congress is able to withstand another round of tax cut fever. The Congressional Budget Office projects surpluses over the next ten years (FY 2000-2009) totaling nearly $3 trillion.”