Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, this budget has no true balance. It is rather only a retread of the same old Gingrich budget resolution that America rejected last year. And the understanding that the American people have of this budget is proven correct again today. You will remember, this is a budget whose main theme was how much it could cut Medicare in order to pay for tax breaks for the privileged. Well, today's resolution proposes to cut Medicare $100 billion less than last year's resolution, and guess what? Just by coincidence, the tax breaks are $100 billion less than last year's resolution, or more or less in that range. It demonstrates that the American people were correct in understanding that there is a direct relationship by how much Medicare gets cut, how much health security gets jeopardized, and how many tax breaks there are for the privileged. But what does this resolution omit? It refuses to do a single thing about the billionaire expatriates who renounced their U.S. citizenship in order to avoid paying their fair share of taxes. That would have gotten us over $2 billion in revenues. It refuses to cut a single corporate tax loophole. It imposes, you might say, a means test for welfare. But if you have got the means, every one of your tax loopholes and your corporate subsidies is protected. That is the thrust of this budget resolution, and it ought to be rejected.”