Political Quotes

“It fell to me, then chairman of the Committee on Finance, to reach agreement on our Democratic side on the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. There was no Republican involvement and no Republican support, for perfectly straightforward reasons. It fell to me to negotiate among ourselves the 4.3-cent increase in the gasoline tax which is suddenly under discussion today. The President had originally proposed an increase in the Btu tax. And I suppose it is not inappropriate if I am going to be speaking from Alfred Marshall's text, he having been a distinguished professor in Great Britain, to refer to the Btu, which stands for 'British thermal units.' It was not easy to reach agreement on the 4.3 cents. That was the last part of the budget deficit reduction that we had to put together, a total reduction of $500 billion, half of it by raising--I will use that dread word 'taxes'--not fees, not premiums--taxes, and a somewhat smaller proportion from reducing, cutting, and, in many cases, eliminating Federal programs.”