Judd Gregg: “I appreciate the Senator's passion. I just wish he had been there when we voted on the deficit reduction bill and we put…”

“I appreciate the Senator's passion. I just wish he had been there when we voted on the deficit reduction bill and we put $9 billion in student assistance and increased the Pell grant concept $8,000 per student, students with low income to pursue academic careers which are needed in this country so we could be more competitive. As I have mentioned before, the numbers are pretty staggering, what we put into education accounts, and this budget puts in another $1.5 billion over what the President suggested, although again it is not binding. Nothing we do in this budget is binding in a specific account. The only binding number we have and we should keep is that top line on the issue of how much we are going to spend as a Government. I would say not only is it important to pass along good education to our children, but it is also important to pass along a healthy economy to them and a nation which they can afford to live in. But raising their taxes as this amendment does is not going to make us more competitive or make them have a better lifestyle. It means they end up paying more taxes. Not living within your budgets is not a good idea for government, it is not a good idea certainly for students, and I think this amendment sets a bad precedent. It establishes a precedent of saying, well, we will just blow the cap off with either higher taxes or more debt.…”