Sylvester Turner: “In 2001 we approved a tax cut based on the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that we had a surplus over the next 10…”

“In 2001 we approved a tax cut based on the Congressional Budget Office's estimate that we had a surplus over the next 10 years. Today our Republican colleagues come to the floor asking for a tax cut when the Congressional Budget Office projects a deficit over the next decades and as far as the eye can see. In that case, I think it is important for our Republican colleagues to be honest with the American people and go to them and let them know that in order to give this tax cut they have got to borrow the money, and here is the kind of credit application our Republican friends ought to submit to the people of this country. Typical application from the Members of Congress, always have to list your credit history. Our credit history is that we are in debt today $6.4 trillion. We pay $332 billion in interest. That is almost a billion dollars a day. Our estimated income for the next 10 years is $19.6 trillion. Our estimated expenditures exceed that, 23.6. It is estimated that in 2013 we will owe $12 trillion. And our estimated annual interest payments will be 6 to $700 billion, approaching what it costs to fund the Department of Defense. So what is our request from our Republicans? We need to borrow $550 billion so we can give a tax cut. The interest cost on it is going to run another $273 billion, and so the whole deal will costs $820 billion. What is the repayment schedule? It is unknown.”