David Obey: “I rise because of the statement just made by the last speaker to simply point out that the lockbox provision being…”

“I rise because of the statement just made by the last speaker to simply point out that the lockbox provision being attached to this bill is a king-size joke. All year we have tried to defend the right of Members to offer an amendment on lockbox which essentially would save any money that is cut during floor consideration of a bill and use that for deficit reduction. We objected to the rescissions bill earlier in the year because lockbox was blocked. But now cynically the lockbox provision is provided on this bill at the end of the process; the only problem is that there is not going to be any money to put in the box because this bill is already so decimated that I doubt seriously that the House is going to make any significant reductions in the bill. All the lockbox amendment is is a cover-your-tail amendment that allows politicians to pretend that they are setting up a system to save money when, in fact, there will be no money to be saved the way this bill is being handled.”