John Kerry: “I thank the Chair. I often hear my colleagues talking about the spending problem. What they forget about is we had a…”

“I thank the Chair. I often hear my colleagues talking about the spending problem. What they forget about is we had a surplus we created in the 1990s by making the tough decisions. We invested in the future of our country, and we created 23 million new jobs. And in the 1990s, when we balanced the budget--let's not forget that. Some of us were here and made those tough votes, and we balanced the budget, and we created 23 million jobs. Every income level in America went up--every single income level--and we did it at a time when the total relationship of spending- to-GDP was exactly where many of us believe we ought to take it today, somewhere around 21 or 22 percent. The fact is that it was President Bush's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that we couldn't afford and a war that he refused to pay for in Afghanistan and then Iraq--both wars totaling approximately $2 trillion. The tax cuts and the wars account for approximately $7 trillion in deficits in 2009 and going forward. The facts are clear. The tax cuts President Bush put in place contributed to the deficit, and the revenues have to be addressed if we are going to go forward and deal with this. Federal revenues today--the money the government takes in--is at its lowest level since 1950.…”