Lamar Smith: “once again we have come to a point where Congress is faced with the decision of how we will manage the Nation's…”

“once again we have come to a point where Congress is faced with the decision of how we will manage the Nation's pocketbook. It is important to remember that this is not our pocketbook, it is the people's and we are responsible to them. We are faced with two choices. We can sign on again to the status quo, to last year's bad deal that increased taxes and still has the deficit going up in the very near future. That is the Clinton budget. Last year it amounted to a step backwards, this year it amounts to standing still. The Clinton budget is as notable for what it does not contain as for the increased spending and taxes that it does. Look as hard as you want and you won't find the administration's number one priority--health care reform--anywhere in here. According to the White House, it is supposed to save money; according to the Congressional Budget Office it will increase spending, but according to the President's budget it will do nothing at all--because it's not in here at all. Some have said health care is MIA in the President's budget. In fact it is AWOL--absent without leave--because a budget is the place for things that affect Federal spending. It is a place for priorities. Health care is merely the most expensive item the President talks about that is not in his budget, but it's not alone. The President's budget literally does not do what he says. The President has not put his money where his mouth is or his priorities where his promises are.”