Emanuel Cleaver: “You hear a lot about the Ryan budget. I've chosen not to call it the ``Ryan budget''--it's just my personal…”

“You hear a lot about the Ryan budget. I've chosen not to call it the ``Ryan budget''--it's just my personal thing--because it becomes personal. So, when I criticize it, it seems like I'm criticizing a person when I'm not. I'm criticizing the Republican Budget Committee from which it came, and I'm criticizing it because 62 percent of all the cuts in that budget will be aimed at low-income individuals and seniors. The Medicare program is going to be threatened, and the AARP sent out a notice to all of its members explaining what would happen to Medicare if it is voucherized. We are the only Nation in the history of planet Earth to give tax cuts as we enter and then are in the middle of a war--2003, 2005-- giving tax cuts in the middle of a war. Last year, the 22 largest hedge fund managers earned $22 billion, and they paid only 15 percent on the tax of the capital dividends. The people who are watching this pay 27 to 30 percent. It's not right. We've got to reject this budget. ____________________”