Max Baucus: “let me just recap briefly so Senators understand my amendment. I explained where we were before the break in the action.…”

“let me just recap briefly so Senators understand my amendment. I explained where we were before the break in the action. I am offering an amendment which would eliminate the reconciliation instruction to the budget resolution directing the Finance Committee to produce savings in mandatory programs within the Finance Committee's jurisdiction. The amendment, as I mentioned earlier, is based on the assumption in the resolution that the committee would cut Medicaid by $11 billion over 5 years and reduce the earned-income tax credit outlays by $3 billion. Some may think the budget calls for the Finance Committee to produce legislation that saves $3.4 billion over 5 years, since that is the figure in the reconciliation. Actually, the committee would have to produce savings of $21.6 billion, and that is basically because the resolution calls for extending the child tax credit and the marriage penalty relief, as the President has proposed, and as provided for in the budget resolution and which I support. I think the vast majority of the Members here support it. As a consequence of all that, the outlays have to be increased $18.2 billion over 5 years, and that is, again, because the earned-income tax credit is refundable. So you add it all together and it actually comes up to $21.6 billion that has to be cut, not the figure of $3.4 billion contained in the budget resolution.”