Kent Conrad: “the best argument made for my amendment, which is to restore fiscal responsibility, is the argument made by the chairman…”

“the best argument made for my amendment, which is to restore fiscal responsibility, is the argument made by the chairman of the Budget Committee in 2002. Here is what he said: The second budget discipline, which is pay-go, essentially says if you are going to add a new entitlement program, or you are going to cut taxes, you must offset that event so that it becomes a budget neutral event. If we don't do this, if we don't put back in place caps and pay-go, we will have no budget discipline, and as a result we will dramatically aggravate the deficit, which, of course, impacts a lot of important issues but especially impacts Social Security. The budget chairman was right then. It is the right position now. Support the restoration of the budget discipline of pay-go. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired. The Senator from New Hampshire is recognized.”