Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman from New Jersey. I saw the gentleman from Maryland this morning on television. It was the first time I had heard, Madam Speaker, of his proposal. So I had a chance to take a look at it today, and I also had a chance to look at the CBO report that was performed on it. I saw some interesting things that I don't know if we've discussed fully here today. It raises taxes by $85 billion over the 10-year window. According to the CBO, it raises spending by almost $80 billion. This is a refrain that I used to hear a lot when I was younger--taxes and spending, taxes and spending, raise taxes and increase spending. I thought it was gone from today's party across the aisle, but evidently, here it is--alive and well--in Mr. Van Hollen's substitute offering, raising taxes by $85 billion and raising spending by $80 billion, which is a net reduction of the deficit of $5 billion over 10 years. According to the CBO, it actually increases the deficit by $55 billion in the first year. It does that, by the way, in part and parcel by offering what they call the Buffett rule. The last time I came to this well, I believe the gentleman from Maryland and I had a nice exchange about whether or not my amendment was a gimmick. It was the amendment regarding the President's budget. I seem to remember someone else calling the Buffett rule a gimmick.…”