Kent Conrad: “As we have said, this program provides half as much for prescription drugs. The budget proposal that they have made…”

“As we have said, this program provides half as much for prescription drugs. The budget proposal that they have made provides $153 billion. But everybody acknowledges that is not sufficient and that there is simply not enough money there to provide a meaningful prescription drug benefit. They are engaged in a little bit of what I would call fiscal sleight of hand. If you look at our proposal, we take this projected surplus, and we are quick to acknowledge that this is a 10-year projection. It is highly unlikely to ever come true. We believe the prudent thing to do is to be cautious in light of the basis of all we are doing being a 10-year forecast. We save all of the money for the Social Security trust fund, all of the money for the Medicare trust fund, and with what is left we talk about one-third for a tax cut, one-third for these high-priority domestic needs, including prescription drugs and infrastructure and education. Anyone who has flown or driven on a highway knows that we need additional funds for infrastructure in America. And education is the highest priority of the American people for additional resources. We also believe we need to strengthen our national defense and then provide additional resources especially for health care and disasters.”