Kent Conrad: “I enjoyed very much the speech of my colleague from Pennsylvania, but it has almost no relevance to what is going on…”

“I enjoyed very much the speech of my colleague from Pennsylvania, but it has almost no relevance to what is going on here at all. It was good for the amusement of the Chamber, but those numbers bear no relationship to the amendments that have been offered. The Senator from Pennsylvania adds up some tote board scoring of costs that bear no relationship to the amendments on which we voted. These amendments were not spending for 10 years. These amendments were to restore cuts that have been made in the budget for this year. This does not have anything to do with spending for 10 years from now, or 5 years from now. So all those cumulative totals bear no relationship to what has occurred in the Senate. The concern with deficits of the Senator from Pennsylvania is interesting, but it is a change for him because he supported the massive tax cuts that have opened up this chasm, where we have gone from a projection 2 years ago of $5.6 trillion of surpluses over the next decade to now being $2 trillion in the hole. Where was he in his concern for deficits then? The assertion that each of these items that have been voted on can be totaled is erroneous as well. We cannot just take each of these amendments, every one of them which has been defeated, and total them. One amendment is offered, it is defeated. That money cannot be treated as though it has been spent. That is what the Senator from Pennsylvania has done. It defies logic. It defies reason. It defies the facts.”