Maxwell Frost: “20 years ago, this House and the Congress rushed headlong into the promised land of supply-side economics. This…”

“20 years ago, this House and the Congress rushed headlong into the promised land of supply-side economics. This institution bought this medicine-show magic of cutting taxes along with rosy economic forecasts that within a year left us soaring deficits and a staggering public debt. It was a classic case of, if it is too good to be true, it probably is. Mr. Speaker, we are right back there today. We have spent the last 18 years struggling to bring deficits and debt under control and have only now begun to see the fruits of our labor. My Republican colleagues seem to have forgotten that the promises of 20 years ago were fool's gold. So today they are again rushing pell-mell toward yet another promised land that may turn out to be only a mirage. Mr. Speaker, make no mistake, Democrats support tax relief for the American taxpayer. But Democrats do not support this bill. We do not support considering this bill or any other tax bill without having first put into place a budget that will give us a more realistic understanding of what we can and what we cannot afford. Democrats cannot support a tax package that will once against trigger deficit spending and will set back our efforts to pay down the national debt. Democrats cannot support a tax package that is so heavily weighed toward the most well-off of this country that low- and moderate-income working families will necessarily have to be shortchanged.”