Tom Harkin: “our nation is at an economic crossroads. This budget resolution conference report is an important document, setting out…”

“our nation is at an economic crossroads. This budget resolution conference report is an important document, setting out a course of policy for the coming decade. I oppose this resolution. I believe it takes us dangerously in the wrong direction as a country. We face a demographic shift as the baby boomers retire. We need to provide for the costs of Social Security and Medicare in the coming decades. I believe the elderly deserve a decent prescription drug benefit. We must provide a quality education for our children in an ever more competitive world where a large part of our advantage is the skills of our workforce. Prior to the 2001 tax bill, we were on a path to eliminate publicly held debt and to meet those needs. Now, the President is again proposing tax cuts of a similar size despite the fact that the surpluses predicted in 2001 have totally disappeared. Those projected surpluses have been replaced by record deficits. We may have historic deficits near $400 billion this year and next. The ranking member of the Budget Committee explained earlier today on the floor that the largest single factor in turning surpluses to deficits has been that 2001 tax cut. That tax cut, which I opposed, is more responsible for deficits in the long term than the downturn of the economy, and more responsible than the new spending on defense and homeland security that was made necessary by the attacks of 9-11.”