Sam Gibbons: “I think everyone knows that this particular resolution is going absolutely nowhere. It will go to the Senate, and they…”

“I think everyone knows that this particular resolution is going absolutely nowhere. It will go to the Senate, and they will never consider it. But I think we ought to tell the truth about what we are talking about. Balancing the budget in 7 years requires the reduction of expenditures of about $750 billion, a doable amount. Where we really disagree is the method in which that money is subtracted from the budget. The Republicans' priorities, as I read them, put the balance of the budget burden upon the elderly sick, the young sick, the elderly in general, upon the working poor, and to a certain extent upon middle-class America. The thing that is causing all of this trouble but no one will really admit is the proposal to reduce taxes by $250 billion on the Republican side, and the President's mistake of reducing taxes about $100 billion. That makes the balancing of the budget extremely cruel. You have got to do some things that you would not do if you were operating in a normal environment. So both sides ought to throw on the floor and put behind them the reduction of taxes during this period of time. It is a shame that we are in this environment. I do not think we ought to go home. I think we ought to stay here and continue working on the substance of all of this.”