Thomas Daschle: “Well, there are those who appear to argue that not only do they not want a balanced budget but they are using the…”

“Well, there are those who appear to argue that not only do they not want a balanced budget but they are using the deficits to shrink the Government--a very crass, clumsy, and dangerous way of reducing Government expenditures. The majority leader in the House even argued a few weeks ago that tax cuts are the most important matter before the country, even more important than war, he argued. So clearly tax cuts have a special place in the minds of many on the other side, but as the Senator says, I do not think there is the same degree of interest or commitment to fiscal responsibility. I was on Wall Street yesterday, and I was taken aback by the extraordinary concern expressed to me by so many people in the financial community, people who are concerned about what message we are sending about fiscal responsibility and what international investors are saying about our position. The euro continues to increase in strength against the dollar, in part because in some circles people have more confidence in the euro today than they do the dollar. Why is that the case? Because they are very concerned about the implications of U.S. fiscal policy today. So I believe that whether it is our fiscal policy, our trade policy, our long-term circumstances with regard to the budget in particular, we are going to pay dearly for the consequences of what some have proposed in tax cuts this week.”