Kent Conrad: “I am interested in the Senator's reaction to the credibility gap I have detected. This chart shows we need $1 trillion…”

“I am interested in the Senator's reaction to the credibility gap I have detected. This chart shows we need $1 trillion over the next 7 years if we do not do anything to make the situation worse before we start to solve the problem. But look what happens with our Republican friends' plan. The first thing they do is propose $364 billion of tax cuts, not spending cuts, but $364 billion of tax cuts. This is according to the Treasury Department. So now the $1 trillion problem over the next 7 years is nearly $1.4 trillion. The next thing they do is say, well, we want to cut spending someplace. We do not want to be too clear on exactly where we are going to cut spending, but before we start cutting spending, we want to increase spending. We want to increase spending on defense by $82 billion. So now the problem that started out as a $1 trillion problem has turned out to be a $1.48 trillion problem. That is a big number. That is not a million; that is not a billion; that is a trillion. The interesting thing is to look at what they have come up with by way of specific proposals to cut spending. This is where we get to what I call the credibility gap.”