Kent Conrad

I intend to be supportive of Senator Merkley on this issue.

This debt is such a serious problem.

If there is an uncontrolled release out of the east end of Devils Lake, everybody suffers.

Extending the tax cuts is among the weakest in terms of helping boost economic growth, although it is positive.

I also want to commend you and Senator Gregg for coming up with really a very thoughtful tax reform proposal.

The fact is, and I don't think anyone would disagree, TARP, in its own way, painfully worked.

We need to do this job cheaper, given the state of the budget.

But either of them, additional spending over what is projected or additional tax cuts, will actually hurt longer-term economic growth.

Today, I believe the jobs deficit is more urgent than the budget deficit.

The idea that we should raise taxes in this economy is not a good idea.

I think that you are pretty much on target, and I would start with the regulation piece of it.

The legacy of that bubble... is still with us because unless we defease or write off that debt... we are going to be stuck in a low-growth economy.

The good news, though, is we do not face imminent fiscal crisis.

I will never forget being called to a meeting--I believe Senator Gregg was there as well--when the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve told us that they were going to be taking over AIG the next morning.

Well, I think that is incredibly important testimony that you are giving us here today.

The largest boost in the short run, as you said, but the largest negative effect in the long run.

Are we a fragile economy? Yes, we are. Is there more work to be done? We can debate that.

The enemy of economic expansion in this country is the Federal Government, especially the way it has been pursuing policies for the last 2 years.

My view was a double. If we put money in a school budget for school construction, first off, it gets distributed down at a local level, which means actually you would build something.

I do completely agree, I think, with all of you that over the longer term we must act.

The days of what I like to call the 'Field of Dreams' strategy are over.

I see the beginnings of a bipartisan consensus at the technical level on tax reform issues.

Tax cuts could somehow hurt future economic growth.

The largest effect would arise from a temporary increase in aid to the unemployed.

The more we want our markets in other respects to be open and free and to allow for failure... that requires more not less regulation.