Emanuel Cleaver: “That would be true, but we cannot do everything that we need to do and give the tax cuts. I mean, I think we have to…”

“That would be true, but we cannot do everything that we need to do and give the tax cuts. I mean, I think we have to keep in mind the growing cost of the war against terror, and we do not even budget for it. Most of the Americans will probably find it amazing that we do not even budget for the war, and the supplemental budget, of course, is supposed to be for unexpected costs. We did not even budget for the rebuilding of the gulf coast region. All of that finds its way into the supplemental budget, and I am saying that we are borrowing money that we might not have to borrow if we had it in the Treasury, and we would have it in the Treasury if we had not given it in tax cuts. Now, I want to say that the economic stimulus, the administration's tax cuts in 2003 had particularly low bang for the buck. The moderate economic growth has not been disbursed, as I said two or three times a night, to most American families. After accounting for inflation, the typical American family's income has decreased every year of the Bush presidency for a total reduction of $1,700. Now, that is when you factor in the inflation. It has dropped to $1,700. The GDP growth in the first quarter this year was, as you said, a strong 5.6 annual rate, but most forecasts, including the economists in the White House, see the growth moderating to around 3 percent over the next few quarters.…”