Political Quotes

“Mr. President, it is a little difficult to know where to start, since my good friend and colleague has said so many things that are flat out wrong. No. 1, my amendment does not prevent the tax increase. That is absolutely and perfectly clear. Let me say it again. My amendment does not block and does not prevent the tax increase. No. 2, my amendment does do two things. It says that any money in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund can only be used for oilspill cleanup and, secondly, that it cannot be used to offset other spending. That is exactly what is going on in this bill. My colleague knows that the $15 billion created by this tax increase is used as an offset in this bill. It masks spending in this bill of $15 billion. If it were not for that money, the ``score'' of this bill would be $15 billion higher. It would go from $79 billion to $94 billion. What I am saying is simple. We should not be grabbing, stealing that oilspill liability money to mask other spending, to double count it, to essentially steal it from the trust fund. Again, my amendment does not prohibit the tax increase. By the way, if my colleague thinks the oil companies are paying that tax, not the consumer, I do not think he understands how the world works. But my amendment does not block that tax increase.…”