John Bel Edwards: “I think, Mr. Speaker, our point is that we live in an uncertain world. We are not here to belittle economists and their…”

“I think, Mr. Speaker, our point is that we live in an uncertain world. We are not here to belittle economists and their role in our society; but we are here to say that it is truly unrealistic, and it is frankly disingenuous to suggest to the American people that these economic projections are absolutely going to be correct. Again, I would like to see which Member of this House, of either party, would be willing to bet his or her family's net worth on the assumption that these 10-year projections will be within 1 percent or even 10 percent or 20 percent correct, and I came here in January of 1991. I know that not even the best predictions of our military intelligence community could have predicted a few years earlier that Saddam Hussein would invade the country of Kuwait. So the point is we live in an uncertain world, and to pass certain massive tax cuts based on an uncertain world with inexact, inexact science of economic 10-year projections really is a prescription for returning to the old politics of the 1980s for which our children and grandchildren will have to pay a very significant price.”