J. Exon: “Here we are, Mr. President, with yet another Republican budget. But after 18 months of extremism and demagoguery, after…”

“Here we are, Mr. President, with yet another Republican budget. But after 18 months of extremism and demagoguery, after two shutdowns and a threat of a dozen more, I must say that I expected something better. True--and I congratulate and thank my friend from New Mexico--true, there is some degree of dulling the knife's edge from last year's disastrous Republican budget proposal that was not appreciated by the vast majority of the people of the United States once they understood it. But I ask, is this latest Republican budget kinder? Is it a gentler budget than the Republicans had promised the American people? I think not. Yes, it is somewhat better, I would say, than last year. Primarily that is possible because the Congressional Budget Office in the estimating of what is going to happen in the future has come up with a healthier economic growth than they had previously. I thank Senator Domenici and the Republicans for wisely using that to alleviate some of the hit that many Americans not as fortunate as the rest of us would have taken.”