Kent Conrad: “I might say I even extend that to the Senator from Iowa, the esteemed ranking member of the Finance Committee, whom I…”

“I might say I even extend that to the Senator from Iowa, the esteemed ranking member of the Finance Committee, whom I have grown fond of. Let me say this: We don't have any tax increase in our proposal. The reason we resist the motion of the Senator from New Hampshire is because we would have a budget that would not be in balance. Our budget is in balance by 2012; with his motion it would not be. He has $250 billion of tax expenditures not paid for. In our budget, we provide for the middle-class tax cuts, we provide for estate tax reform, and we say if you want to have additional tax cuts, you can have them, but you have to pay for them.”