Kent Conrad: “this is, I believe, the worst budget this Chamber has considered perhaps in its history. It is radical, reckless…”

“this is, I believe, the worst budget this Chamber has considered perhaps in its history. It is radical, reckless, dangerous, and extreme. At a time of record budget deficits, it proposes to cut revenues by over $1.3 trillion and increase spending by over $1.1 trillion, driving us deeper into deficits and debt. It explodes deficits when we are at war, the cost of which is unknown, and right on the eve of the retirement of the baby boom generation which will dramatically increase the cost of Social Security and Medicare. Make no mistake, the cost of the massive tax cuts in this budget explode at the very time the cost to the Government of the baby boom generation's retirement explodes. There can only be one result, and that is to drive this country off the cliff into deficits and debt on a scale and magnitude never seen in this country's history. That is not just irresponsible, it is wildly irresponsible. This budget is not a document that represents a conservative approach to governance. It is radical and it is extreme. It says deficits do not matter, that taking virtually every penny of the Social Security trust fund surpluses to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest among us, is the priority for this Nation. This budget flunks every test of fiscal responsibility and basic fairness.”