Political Quotes

“I want to ask the Senator a question because I am not sure that we have really laid out the timetable of what is ahead. My colleague, of course, who is our ranking Democrat on the Budget Committee, is very up on this. We have all been concerned because we have seen it before. You pass these big tax cuts. You get on a sugar high for a relatively short period of time. Then the deficits start rolling in. What we see next are the cuts in the programs that are a lifeline for millions of people--the anti-hunger programs, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security. I saw comments in the paper that what my colleague is concerned about has already been announced by the Speaker of the House. I understand that what the Speaker of the House has said is that his next plan is to take up the issues of what he calls entitlement reform. They are not talking about the things that the American people care about and that I am going to hear about at townhall meetings at home this weekend-- holding down the costs of prescription drugs. They are talking about rolling back the safety net--Medicaid and the anti-hunger programs and Social Security. Is that my colleague's understanding?”