Max Baucus: “on behalf of myself and also Senator Smith of Oregon, let me make a couple of quick points. No. 1, we know our country…”

“on behalf of myself and also Senator Smith of Oregon, let me make a couple of quick points. No. 1, we know our country needs a boost, a shot in the arm. It is not totally clear, but it is far better to provide a little insurance because the economy might go south in the next couple of months or years--more than it has now. Various companies are going bankrupt. We all know about Enron, Kmart, and there will be other companies down the road. Many people are being laid off, particularly in the financial services industry, which we are going to find out about in February because they have 2- or 3-month contracts and they will be laid off a lot later. This is very important. Second, many States are losing revenue because their economies are down. They will also lose more revenue as a consequence of the 2-year bonus depreciation. It is only proper with the passage of the Medicaid reimbursement amendment States are made whole so they do not have to cut Medicaid payments, so they do not have to cut payments to hospitals, to providers. This amendment will allow States to refrain from making those cuts to doctors, to hospitals, other providers, and to Medicaid beneficiaries, and also prevent them from having to otherwise cut their budgets. At the same time, we get a 2-year shot in the arm with bonus depreciation. It is a very modest provision. We all know bonus depreciation should be somewhere between 1 year and 3 years.”