Tom Feeney: “I wanted to come down to congratulate the gentleman from New Mexico for his advocacy for fiscal responsibility and his…”

“I wanted to come down to congratulate the gentleman from New Mexico for his advocacy for fiscal responsibility and his advocacy for taxpayers throughout America. I have been struck by the same sort of surreal, almost bizarre, arguments against this budget that the House has put together at this point and they seem to be in two categories that the gentleman has identified: number one, that we are having Draconian cuts in the budget; and, secondly, that somehow this tax cut proposal, the stimulus package, is designed to help the wealthy in America. With respect to the first provision, I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that the Chicken Littles are out in big-time form these days. The sky is falling, the sky is falling, Draconian cuts, et cetera, when the fact of the matter is I have been hearing this argument for about 30, 40 years. I remember watching TV as a small boy when President Ford was a Republican leader in this House of Representatives, and he was accused of cutting the school lunch program. Thirty-five, 40 years later, Mr. Speaker, actually we have an obesity epidemic in America's school grounds, unfortunately all too often, and so the truth of the matter is that whatever Republicans have been cutting in terms of school lunch programs has not done a very effective job if we have been trying to cut off the food supply.”