Political Quotes

“we Vermonters know that if you have a debt, you pay it off. It is time to pay off the national debt so our children do not have to. This will help us pay it off. I thought it was time to introduce a dose of Yankee thrift in this debate. Though he is not a Yankee, the distinguished Senator from Wisconsin seems to share Vermonters' thrifty outlook. The amendment we are introducing is simple, but important. This amendment strikes Section 206 of the budget resolution to ensure that additional surpluses estimated by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reduce the national debt, instead of being used for irresponsible tax cuts. The next CBO update in July is expected to increase the on-budget surplus by at least $40 billion over the next five years. As it now stands, Section 206 would allow Congress to apply those additional projected dollars to tax cuts, on top of the $150 billion in tax cuts already called for in the resolution. That would amount to $190 billion in tax cuts over five years, which is even larger than the fiscally irresponsible tax bill that Congress passed last year, and the President sagely vetoed. That bill would have cost $156 billion over five years and $850 billion over 10 years. Without Section 206, which our amendment would strike, any windfall surplus estimated by CBO would go automatically towards reducing the national debt.”