Steve Cohen: “I think as we look at this lame duck session at the end of the 111th Congress, how we got where we are with the deficit…”

“I think as we look at this lame duck session at the end of the 111th Congress, how we got where we are with the deficit, which was such a big issue--in 1994, Congress and President Clinton passed a bill to balance the budget, all Democrats. The result of it was the Democrats suffered a great election defeat in 1994. The Republicans took over with Newt Gingrich and had the House for the next 12 years. But we balanced the budget with a budget surplus by the year 2000. Then President Bush came in office, and he gave these tax cuts away to a trillion-dollar war in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, and passed Medicare part D, the largest extension of Federal benefits ever, tremendous deficit, increasing much more so than any health care bill passed since or the one that we passed, and we got this tremendous deficit. Now the Republicans talk about earmarks. Earmarks have nothing to do with the deficit at all. It has to do with tough decisions to increase revenues or cut spending; $700 billion cuts to the richest isn't the way to do it. You've got to look at the Fed and other areas and be brave.”