Political Quotes

“I will speak first about the broader perspective of what we have been doing on this resolution. The President of the United States put forth a budget and tax cut that basically said if you take Medicare and Social Security surpluses off the table, every penny of available on-budget surplus is used for a tax cut geared to the wealthiest Americans, hopefully trickling down. We argue instead of doing that, we definitely need to protect Medicare and Social Security. Because the President uses all non-Medicare and Social Security money for his tax cut, he then spends Medicare; he moves all of the Medicare trust fund into spending. We say, no, protect Medicare and Social Security and then let us do a balanced approach. Let us use a third of what is projected--hopefully it will happen--for a tax cut, and that is what this amendment does. It reserves a third for a tax cut, putting a stimulus on the front end so we can help the economy with money in people's pockets right now. Let us use a third for debt reduction, looking at long-term debt--and possibly if the surpluses do not materialize, that is our hedge so we do not go into further debt--and let us use a third for critical investments in our people--education, lowering the cost of prescription drugs.”