David Obey: “I would simply note that the gentleman from Ohio, John Kasich, the Republican chairman of the Committee on the Budget…”

“I would simply note that the gentleman from Ohio, John Kasich, the Republican chairman of the Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from Minnesota, Martin Sabo, the Democratic ranking member of the Committee on the Budget, the gentleman from Louisiana, Bob Livingston, the Republican chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and yours truly, the ranking Democrat on the Committee on Appropriations, are all strongly asking that you vote against this proposition. Now, there is, I suppose, a high probability that even though all four of us agree, we are wrong, but I would respectfully suggest that if anyone is truly interested in achieving a balanced budget, over any time frame, whether it is 7 years, 5 years, you name it, that there is no way that you can in conscience vote for this bill. Let me simply explain what I mean. Right now both parties have told the country that we are willing to balance the budget over a 7-year time frame. Yet what we are now being asked to do is to say to one huge segment of the budget--namely, the transportation portion of the budget--``Well, fellows, we are going to set you aside. Not only are you going to have a dedicated revenue source, but in addition to that special status, we are going to give you the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money, irrespective of the squeeze on any other portion of the budget.''”