Byron Dorgan: “We are here debating the proposition of increasing the debt limit by $800 billion. We have come through a time in the…”

“We are here debating the proposition of increasing the debt limit by $800 billion. We have come through a time in the 1990s when we were actually running budget surpluses. We were paying down the debt. Now we are stacking debt on top of debt on top of debt. This is the most reckless fiscal policy I have ever seen. I didn't vote for it. I don't feel responsible for things I didn't vote for. Let me say that if this Senate passes an increase in the debt limit and does nothing about the underlying fiscal policy that has created it, then this Senate ill serves the American people. The President says: You know, we have had an economic slowdown, a recession, war, and terrorism. Yes. So have other Presidents. That is all true. But it seems to me it probably would have augured well for this administration, then, to recognize that things have changed and therefore fiscal policy must change. We are spending $5 billion a month every month in Iraq and Afghanistan--$4 billion in Iraq, $1 billion in Afghanistan. We are not paying for one penny of it. It is all being charged. This administration says we are fighting a war. Yes, we are fighting a war and guess what, this administration doesn't ask anyone to pay for it. They say we want to give big tax cuts mostly to people at the upper income level. What kind of fiscal policy is that?”