Byron Dorgan: “I know my colleague has studied economics. I have studied economics and actually taught a little economics but was able…”

“I know my colleague has studied economics. I have studied economics and actually taught a little economics but was able to overcome that experience. When you study economics, you will learn about John Maynard Keynes' saying: In the long run, we're all dead. Right. So it is interesting this tax bill says: Look, here is what we are going to do. We are going to get rid of the marriage tax penalty, and we are going to do this and that and the other thing; and then you look at the fine print and find out that for the marriage tax penalty, they do not start getting rid of it until 2004 or 2005. I guess you say now it has been altered. It does not complete until 2008. So we are really talking about the long run, aren't we? But, yes, if you happen to be earning $10 million a year in income, you are going to get immediate tax relief by a rate reduction right at the start. Right at the get-go, right at the starting line, you at the top are going to get a rate reduction. But there is not enough money to provide relief for the marriage tax penalty right away, so that is deferred 4 years, 6 years, 8 years, or, as Keynes would say, in the long run. One wonders if there is not a short run and a priority that allows us to say, look, the hard working families who are paying a marriage tax penalty, shouldn't they be moved right to the front of the line.”