Chuck Grassley: “I agree with everybody's concern, including his, about the size of the package and the concern that we should have about…”

“I agree with everybody's concern, including his, about the size of the package and the concern that we should have about the Federal deficit. Hopefully, as the economy grows--and the last figures indicate it is growing now at 3.4 percent--Federal revenues will return then to their average levels of 18 to 19 percent of the gross domestic product, which is an average of over the last 60 years, and we will close the gap. I also point to the fact that there are really two sides to the Federal ledger. One is the revenue side; that is, what comes in from the taxes paid by our factory workers, office workers, and farmers from across the America. The other side of the ledger is the spending side of the ledger, the appropriations bills by the Congress of the United States. My friends on the other side of the aisle, as Senator Biden's amendment shows, are zeroing in exclusively on the tax side. They look only to the taxpayers to put our fiscal house in order. I agree with the goal of reducing the deficit. I disagree that it is appropriate to look at only one side as if what is wrong with America and what is the cause of the deficit is that American taxpayers are undertaxed and that in no way Congress overspends.”