Timothy H. Bishop: “is there any doubt today that this administration's first priority continues to be tax cuts for the wealthiest at the…”

“is there any doubt today that this administration's first priority continues to be tax cuts for the wealthiest at the expense of education, health care and homeland security, all of which are being cut to pay for these tax cuts? We have been promised that extending dividend and capital gains cuts will create a rising tide that lifts all boats. But American families know that it takes so much more than a trickle-down effect for tax cuts to deliver relief from rising gas prices, soaring tuition and skyrocketing health costs. If the tax cuts had performed as our friends on the other side of the aisle promised, an exploding economy would have offset these strains. Instead, we are now burdened with $400 billion deficits, $3 trillion in new debt since 2001, and deep cuts to hospitals, schools and law enforcement. How can we possibly justify tax breaks for millionaires worth more than the entire amount President Bush requested for the Department of Education and more than twice his budget for the VA? The answer is that we can't. We just can't. Instead, Americans who need our help the most must get in line and patiently wait for the Republicans' tax cuts to make any meaningful difference, if they ever do, in their daily struggle. Mr. Speaker, middle-class Americans deserve much better. ____________________”