Byron Dorgan: “I couldn't quite figure that all out, but I will ask the Senator, who is the chairman of the committee, is it true you…”

“I couldn't quite figure that all out, but I will ask the Senator, who is the chairman of the committee, is it true you are having trouble convincing people, or are we having trouble convincing people that having Wachovia Bank buy a sewer system in Germany for the purpose of reducing their U.S. income tax burden is a bad idea? If the Senator from New Hampshire wants to talk about where we would get some additional revenues, maybe we could start now a dollar at a time. Let's take at least the first dollar and decide that U.S. companies that buy and immediately lease back sewer systems, streetcars, or city halls in foreign countries, or in this country for that matter, for the purpose of depreciating an asset that otherwise wouldn't be depreciable, for the purpose of reducing their U.S. income taxes and agree that is a bad idea. Let's shut it down. Let's decide today, on Tuesday, that is over. Can we at least agree on that piece? If so, my colleague Senator Conrad has us on the road to at least beginning piece by piece to putting the system together to get the revenue we need. This is not about raising taxes, it is about asking those who ought to be paying taxes to start paying them.”