Kent Conrad: “I believe we have to both restrain spending and work the revenue side of this equation. I don't think it is going to…”

“I believe we have to both restrain spending and work the revenue side of this equation. I don't think it is going to work without that. Let me start with a little different take on what has caused this dramatic flip in where we are with respect to deficits and what we earlier projected to be surpluses. We have had, for the period from 2002 to 2011, a $9 trillion reversal. As we look at the causes, here is what we see. The tax cuts are 33 percent of the difference. My recollection is it was 23 percent in his chart. We may also have a different timeframe. Our analysis from 2002 to 2011 is that 33 percent of the disappearance of the surplus was from tax cuts.”