Chuck Grassley: “To begin with, it is completely ridiculous to suggest that President Bush and Republicans in general did not intend or…”

“To begin with, it is completely ridiculous to suggest that President Bush and Republicans in general did not intend or desire the permanence of tax relief. President Bush and my party generally have favored permanence of tax relief--not just because it brings in less money, but because permanence of tax policy--when investors and laborers can depend on the tax policy, you are going to get better planning long term. It is better for the economy. Mr. President, you need to look no further than the budgets to which I have referred. The administration and the Republican Congress have budgeted for an extension of the bipartisan tax relief provisions. That action has affected the bottom lines of these budgets. And as we heard over and over again, the Democratic leadership, the liberal think tanks, and sympathetic east coast media have criticized the bottom lines of those budgets. So the Democratic leadership, the liberal think tanks, and the sympathetic east coast media cannot have it both ways. We are not going to let them have it both ways.”