Steny Hoyer: “Let us not give them 25 cents back and add 75 percent to their debt. That is what the gentleman from Mississippi said.…”

“Let us not give them 25 cents back and add 75 percent to their debt. That is what the gentleman from Mississippi said. Mr. Speaker, our Republican friends have turned the annual budget resolution into a rite of spring. Remember what the Washington Post said last year? The Republicans seek not to just cut taxes but to increase defense and selected other categories of spending while maintaining the appearance of fiscal discipline. Does that sound familiar? The year before that, The New York Times said the Republican Congressional leadership appears to prefer radical tax and spending cuts to reasoned accommodation on the budget. The tone may be different, but the substance is not. Three years ago, of course, the majority plumbed the depths of budgetary gridlock. It could not even pass a budget resolution. Mr. Speaker, to that poor soul who accidentally lost two pages in the budget resolution on the way to the House floor early last Friday, let me say, do not be too hard on yourself. Mr. Speaker, that oversight is just a tiny blip on a fiscal radar screen, full, frankly, of Republican pretense. The substance of this budget resolution is shameless. It is not a plan for our future. It is a stalking horse for Republican tax cuts that would mainly benefit the wealthy.”