Orrin Hatch: “That article lists how much $1 trillion really is. As I look at the President's recent budget, the way deficit cuts are…”

“That article lists how much $1 trillion really is. As I look at the President's recent budget, the way deficit cuts are calculated by the administration is like a 200 pound man claiming he lost weight when he weighs in at only 300 pounds because he thought he would be 400 pounds. Only in Washington can an increase be called a cut, and that is precisely what is happening. The Daschle motion to recommit has rightly been called the right-to-stall proposal. It purports to put off the requirement of a balanced budget until Congress actually achieves a balanced budget, by adopting such a budget plan. Mr. President, this proposal purports to give Congress a constitutional right to stall the requirement of a balanced budget by mere failure to balance the budget. Mr. President, the very reason we need a balanced budget amendment is because Congress has failed to balance the budget for decades. The Daschle right-to-stall amendment would make that abject failure of responsibility the explicit condition of avoiding the acceptance of that responsibility. If there is a better manner to lock in business as usual, a better way to constitutionalize or borrow and spend status quo--our ever-steeper slide into the debt abyss--I admit I cannot think of it.”