Chuck Schumer: “Yes. The third point is this: When we compared the programs, the $168 billion, the $242 billion, and the $311 billion…”

“Yes. The third point is this: When we compared the programs, the $168 billion, the $242 billion, and the $311 billion, that was apples and oranges, as I understand it. The benefit I remember from the Robb program that my friend from Texas pointed out did not have the same level of benefit, the same generosity of benefit, as the plan proffered by the Senators from Florida, Georgia, and Massachusetts. So we are really comparing apples and oranges. It is not that anybody thought the original plans did everything, it was just the amount of money they were willing to spend, and in fact, as I recall it, the Robb plan was sort of objective because people thought for the amount of money it cost compared to the amount of benefit, it was not quite worth it, at least in political terms, using politics in the finer sense in terms of people's value choices. Those are my three questions to my colleague, and I welcome the answers he will give with the same twinkle in his eye.”