David Price: “like most Members of this body, I support tax relief. But today we are debating this bill in clear violation of the…”

“like most Members of this body, I support tax relief. But today we are debating this bill in clear violation of the budget law which states, quote, the concurrent resolution on the budget must be adopted before budget-related legislation is considered. This body is in violation of sound budget procedure, and we are in violation of common sense. Who among us would dream of building a house without a blueprint? That is what we are being asked to do: to shout through a tax cut costing $1 trillion on the way to $2 trillion, benefiting mainly the richest 5 percent of taxpayers, before we have a budget resolution or a detailed budget proposal from the administration. With this tax bill, we would bet the store on shaky surplus projections, more than two-thirds of which are more than 5 years away. If you need any lessons on the unpredictability of projections and forecasts, just ask the school children in my district about the snow day they were promised last Monday! This bill would compromise our ability to pay off the national debt. And it would make it impossible to meet the obligations both parties have made without a high and unacceptable risk of deficit spending. This is a case of putting the cart before the horse if there ever was one. Vote no.”