Political Quotes

“the day that Congress votes on the balanced budget amendment I am troubled by the fact that the Republicans still have not told the American people where the cuts are coming from. One thing the Republicans are telling us, however, is that they want to change the Consumer Price Index with smoke and mirrors. They want to change the way the Consumer Price Index is calculated. What does that mean? It means that Social Security benefits will be cut by $27 billion, cutting benefits for 42 million senior citizens. Republican recalculation of the Consumer Price Index means taxes will be increased by $21 billion, raising taxes on 114 million families. Wait a second. Are these the two steps Republicans promised not to take, cutting Social Security and raising taxes? Republicans again want to magically massage budget numbers to balance the budget. Perhaps, Mr. Speaker, we can now expect Republicans to name David Copperfield as the new CBO Director. Mr. Speaker, Republican smoke and mirrors will not fool the American public.”