Ed Markey: “we all understand in Washington that sometimes you are the beaver and sometimes you are the cherry tree. Even so, it is…”

“we all understand in Washington that sometimes you are the beaver and sometimes you are the cherry tree. Even so, it is outrageous that the Republican majority has chosen to treat Medicare as a cherry tree, to be cut down while the Republican beaver gets fatter on tax cuts. Mr. Speaker, there is no other issue other than the war in Kosovo of greater public policy concern than extending the solvency of Social Security and addressing our senior health crisis while preserving Medicare. This budget flinches in the face of those challenges. Instead, it takes resources that we desperately need to devote to those problems and commits them instead to an exploding tax cut that threatens the return of a structural deficit. It is an insult to the seniors of this country that the Republicans are talking about tax cuts while at the same time they are not setting aside one penny to extend the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund or the solvency of Social Security. There is a health care hurricane on the horizon in our country, Mr. Speaker. The highest growing part of our population is over 85. The Republicans do nothing about the Medicare crisis about to hit. Vote ``no'' on the Republican budget.”