Kent Conrad: “Yesterday, we received the President's budget for this year and for the next 5 years. I wish to take a few moments to…”

“Yesterday, we received the President's budget for this year and for the next 5 years. I wish to take a few moments to comment on that and then on the need for a stimulus package given what is happening in the economy. First, I wish to indicate that we have seen under the President's leadership a dramatic deterioration in the budget circumstance for the country. Last year, the deficit was about $160 billion. They are now forecasting, the administration is forecasting that under its budget proposal, the deficit for this year will reach $410 billion, the second biggest deficit in dollar terms in our Nation's history, and for next year, again a deficit of more than $400 billion. This does not tell the whole story. This is the deficit story. The debt story is far more serious. As I have been saying for a number of years, the debt is the threat. However, we will never hear the word 'debt' leave the lips of this President. Never. We will never hear him talk about the growth of the debt. We will never hear him discuss the threat of the debt. We will never hear him discuss a plan to deal with the debt. It is as though the debt of the country for this President does not exist. Why? Well, perhaps because the debt is growing far more rapidly than the deficit.”