Well, let me say I appreciate the work of the ranking member of the Finance Committee, a long-time member of that committee. It seems to me pretty clear that the President's budget he submitted earlier this year--which I have to say was…

I ask unanimous consent that Senator Hatch and I be allowed to participate in a colloquy. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

many of our good colleagues like to suggest our Nation has historic deficits because the American people are not taxed enough. Some claim the so-called Bush tax cuts are the culprit, but the numbers tell a different story. In fact, these…

Let's take another look at the definition of red herring on the chart. It says: The name of this fallacy comes from the sport of fox hunting in which a dried, smoked herring, which is red in color, is dragged across the trail of the fox to…

That is a stunning thing. You can talk about raising taxes on American workers, on families, on small businesses and on the wealthy and investors all you want, but this talk is easy. It ignores the root causes of the deficit and debt…

Going back to the other chart on taxation and spending under the Obama budget, I would note President Obama's budget raised taxes significantly, increased spending even more, and as a result, over 10 years, created more debt projected than…

Well, not many, is my answer to that. But as often as the President talks about taxing the rich or spreading the wealth around as a cure for our fiscal problems, you would think it would balance the budget. But would he get us there?

The Senator has served on the Finance Committee for a number of years and is now the senior ranking Republican there. If you listen to our friends on the other side of the aisle, it would appear that all fiscal problems could be resolved…

I don't believe we are, but I have to give this subcommittee credit. I am told that the appropriations bill now before the Senate is the first stand-alone appropriations bill brought to the floor of the Senate since 2008. When I came here…

I see Senator Lee from Utah. Senator Lee is a new Senator. He campaigned throughout his State and talked about the kind of issues we are dealing with today. I would yield to him at this time.

I thank Senator Lee for his leadership on this cut, cap, and balance plan. I think it would change the debt trajectory of our country and put us on a path to prosperity rather than a path to decline and deficit and maybe financial crisis…

I thank the Senator. I thank him for his great group of freshmen Senators who have added so much common sense to our problem. We were not elected to preside over the financial decline of America. We were not elected to skirt the law. We…