Paul Coverdell: “the President has now given us his budget--quite a remarkable document. I remember when the President came to speak to…”

“the President has now given us his budget--quite a remarkable document. I remember when the President came to speak to the joint session and said, ``The era of big government is over.'' There was broad applause-- not only in the Chamber but around the country. Now we are confronted-- it is not nearly as spot oriented or media driven--but it is sort of the statement: ``The era of big government is over'' is over. He has taken that pronouncement and absolutely quashed it in this new budget-- driven it in the ground never to be seen again. It was a 77-minute speech, and it outlined 77 new Government spending proposals that amounted to approximately $5 billion in new Government spending per minute. I am glad the speech wasn't longer. In the President's budget, according to the New York Times, he proposed 81 separate tax increases totaling $82 billion over the next 5 years. The effect of that would be to nearly nullify the limited tax reduction that the last Congress finally fashioned with this administration for which there was an enormous celebration on the White House lawn. This would virtually eliminate it. The administration will describe these as ``user fees.'' That is not new. Both parties have used that. But when you look down at what that means, it is quite interesting, Mr. President: $1.1 billion in airline fees. That means all traveling America is going to get a tax increase, if you ever get on an airplane. Or $504 million in food inspection fees.…”