Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “I applaud the Committee on Rules for making in order the Blue Dog budget alternative, and I urge Members on the other…”

“I applaud the Committee on Rules for making in order the Blue Dog budget alternative, and I urge Members on the other side of the aisle to take this opportunity to support a responsible budget. By allowing the Blue Dogs to offer our budget substitute, the Republican leadership has finally acknowledged that the House needs to have an honest debate on a sensible alternative to the majority's unrealistic and irresponsible budget resolution. The Republican budget operates under the fiction that our country can afford a tax cut of $1.35 trillion as the United States embarks upon a necessary mission to liberate Iraq. The attempt to proceed with new tax cuts during a time of war is without precedent in American history, and for good reason. The Republican budget resolution does not take into account our country's current economic and military situation. It is stubbornly stuck in the past. In their delusional attempt to provide new tax cuts while fighting a war and simultaneously attempting to balance the budget, the majority will succeed only in a failed attempt to balance the budget on the backs of our Nation's senior citizens, our veterans, our students, our farmers, our economically disadvantaged. How in the world the majority can propose spending cuts in veterans health care during a time of war is beyond me, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Paralyzed Veterans of America share my amazement.”