Byron Dorgan: “the Congress will now reconvene following the August recess. We face some challenging and difficult times, especially…”

“the Congress will now reconvene following the August recess. We face some challenging and difficult times, especially dealing with fiscal policy. I noted this weekend on some of the news shows that Bush administration spokesperson, Mitch Daniels, who heads the Office of Management and Budget, made the following observations about our fiscal situation. He said, ``We have the second largest surplus in U.S. history. We are awash in cash.'' He used the term ``awash in money.'' And then he seemed to say: Well, there is not a problem here because we have this very large surplus. I think it is interesting to note that the economy in this country is weak. It has softened substantially. That which was expected to have been in surplus just months ago has now evaporated. The Office of Management and Budget and the Congressional Budget Office both acknowledge that the surplus is largely gone.”