Thomas Daschle: “I just now shake my head in disbelief we even had conversations like that. But, nonetheless, that was one of the…”

“I just now shake my head in disbelief we even had conversations like that. But, nonetheless, that was one of the concerns expressed by some during that period of time. I can recall so vividly this question about what it is we were going to do with a $5.5 trillion projected surplus. We no longer have that surplus projection. We no longer have those year-to-year balanced budgets we were proud to report to the American people. We now have a deficit of $200 billion to $300 billion, depending on whether or not you consider the Social Security trust fund. We are expected now to see a deficit of $350 billion in the next fiscal year. So we will see debts of a magnitude we have not seen, deficits of a magnitude we have not experienced as a result of what has happened over the course of the last 24 months. In spite of it, we are going to be actually borrowing to exacerbate that debt even more, borrowing to provide a tax cut to those at the very top of the income scale.”