Stephanie Herseth Sandlin: “there is a phrase that famously set atop President Truman's desk stating, ``The buck stops here.'' Mr. Speaker, looking…”

“there is a phrase that famously set atop President Truman's desk stating, ``The buck stops here.'' Mr. Speaker, looking at the administration's fiscal year 2004 budget, nothing could be further from the truth. President Truman's phrase implies that real leaders have to make tough choices. Real leaders do not assure the American people that our country can afford a war of indeterminate length and massive new tax cuts simultaneously. In fact, the budget is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Did you know that in spite of an imminent war, not one single dime, not one penny, not anything is budgeted for the looming war? That means the entire budget is nothing but a farce. Though our country's anticipated effort to disarm Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction is necessary, and certainly we support our military 100 percent in their efforts, any future action in Iraq which is likely to come will by necessity increase our Federal spending and expand our deficit and the national debt for years and years and years to come. In addition to war with Iraq, which appears nowhere in the budget, the White House is pushing full steam ahead with its $388 billion plan to exempt dividend income from individual taxation. That may be good long-term planning and certainly no one supports taxing anything twice; that is poor policy. But the question is, can we afford it right now today at this time in the face of record deficits?”