Byron Dorgan: “What is true is when we got to a new fiscal policy proposal by the administration, they said let's cut $1.7 trillion in…”

“What is true is when we got to a new fiscal policy proposal by the administration, they said let's cut $1.7 trillion in taxes because we have surpluses as far as the eye can see. Some of us said--I certainly did--maybe we ought to be a little bit conservative. What if we do not have surpluses forever? What if we run into some tough times? What if the economy runs into trouble? Then guess what happened. Without my vote, Congress passed a very large, permanent tax cut. We quickly discovered we were in a recession. Then we had a terrorist attack on September 11. Then we had a war on terrorism. Then we had the largest corporate scandals in history. All of this happened, it seems to me, suggesting that perhaps some of us who urged caution were right, because what happened is those big budget surpluses are now very big budget deficits. What does the President say we ought to do about that? Let's provide more 10-year tax cuts to the tune of $670 billion. When interest is added to it, it is going to be over $1 trillion. None of that adds up.”