Cord Byrd: “It is not spending that has put us back into the deficit ditch. Spending for 2005 is estimated to be about 20 percent of…”

“It is not spending that has put us back into the deficit ditch. Spending for 2005 is estimated to be about 20 percent of the gross domestic product. That is significantly less than during the Reagan administration or during the administration of President Bush's father. On the other hand, revenues as a percentage of gross domestic product are the lowest since 1950. This amendment produces just enough spending to cover the levels approved by this Congress and signed by the President for fiscal year 2004, adjusted for inflation. This is a disciplined amendment that sets reasonable limits. This amendment is not about increasing taxes. In July 2003, at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on waste, fraud, and improved uses for taxpayer funds, GAO Comptroller David Walker testified that tax compliance and collection activity declines are a 'high risk' concern for the GAO. As of September 2001, IRS data showed that employers owed $49 billion in delinquent taxes.”