John Thune: “last week, we heard in the President's State of the Union address some of his priorities and his agenda for this next…”

“last week, we heard in the President's State of the Union address some of his priorities and his agenda for this next year. And, interestingly enough, when the budget came out this past week, we got a more detailed description about some of his ideas for new Washington spending. I harken back to 1994 and what happened at that point in time and after the big government agenda was annihilated at the polls in 1994. In the State of the Union address in 1995, the President came forward and said, the era of big government is over. I think a lot of people in this country took consolation in that statement. That was just a few short years ago. Well, now a couple of years later, we are talking about a potential surplus, which is something that is remarkable--the first in our country's history in some 30 years. Yet I am reminded of the fact I think about whenever we start talking about a surplus in this particular environment in Washington, D.C. It is like a liberal politician's dream, but a taxpayer's nightmare. Mr. Speaker, I think as we look at the statement in 1995 about the era of big government being over and then look at where we are today in terms of potential surplus and what that means for the future of this country and what that means for our country's budget, I think we have to make some important decisions. We are truly at an historic crossroads in terms of the future of this country.”