Political Quotes

“before I begin my remarks, just a quick observation. I know that the majority leader comes down on a fairly regular basis and attacks Republicans, particularly House Republicans, for not producing a budget. Obviously, for the House Republicans, it is their prerogative over there. If there is going to be a budget, it is probably going to be a budget that is put together by the House majority. But I think it kind of misses the broader point, and that is that, at least here in the Senate, which is our domain, our realm of responsibility, it is up to the majority to put a budget forward. They control the floor. They have all control here. They determine what comes to the floor and what doesn't, and if they want to put together a budget, they certainly could. One place to start, obviously, would be the President's budget. The President submitted a budget, which, by any estimation, is a massive expansion of the Federal Government, with lots of new spending--$5 trillion in new taxes, mostly on job creators and small businesses. At the end of the budget period, he would add $17 trillion to the Federal debt. Budget periods cover a window, typically, of 10 years. The President's budget, as put forward, at the end of that 10- year period, would add $17 trillion to the Federal debt and dramatically increase spending. Now, spending prepandemic, as we went into the pandemic, was about $4.4 trillion a year--all in Federal spending.…”