Thomas Daschle: “I firmly believe this bill fails on all counts. What is more remarkable is that this bill represents, in my view, a…”

“I firmly believe this bill fails on all counts. What is more remarkable is that this bill represents, in my view, a strategy that was employed just 2 years ago, with disastrous results. In the name of economic stimulus, the administration demanded that we pass a tax bill to stimulate jobs 2 years ago, and the result, of course, is now obvious to us all: 2.7 million jobs have been lost since 2001. Economy.com, one of the prestigious analytical firms that has looked at this bill, predicts this bill might create 600,000 jobs for 2004, but then, according to Economy.com, we could see the loss of 750,000 jobs as a result of the passage of this bill during the next 9 years. Not only is this bill grossly ineffective, I believe it is irresponsible, unfair, and duplicitous.”