Tom Harkin: “in March of 2001, President Bush visited Western Michigan University to stump for his tax cuts. He said: . . . we can…”

“in March of 2001, President Bush visited Western Michigan University to stump for his tax cuts. He said: . . . we can proceed with tax relief without fear of budget deficits, even if the economy softens. Of course, today we know that what the President said that day was not true, and I think it is time now that the White House comes clean on this issue. We do not know whether the President was aware at the time he made this statement that it probably was not true, but somebody should have known. Surely, someone in this administration knew that trillions of dollars of tax breaks, combined with a downturn in the economy, would lead to massive budget deficits. Following that speech, this administration gave trillions in tax breaks to the wealthy, the economy softened, and we have gone straight from record projected surpluses to record projected deficits and debt. In fact, just 2 years later, the United States now faces massive, prolonged, record-setting projected deficits--over $450 billion this year, $475 billion next year, and trillions of dollars of deficits over the coming years. So, what the President said that day in 2001 was in fact woefully false.”