Gerald Kleczka: “this is a sad day for this country . Today, the Republicans passed what should be called a ``Deficit Acceleration Bill''…”

“this is a sad day for this country . Today, the Republicans passed what should be called a ``Deficit Acceleration Bill'' under the guise of a tax cut bill. This measure will not receive my support because it is a Trojan Horse. It sounds and looks friendly, but it will have dire consequences by exploding the federal budget deficit we have worked so hard the last 2 years to contain. If passed into law, this measure would entail a $630 billion loss to the Federal Treasury over the next 10 years. That is inexcusable. We have a debt of $4 trillion. We have annual deficits estimated to rise in future years due to demographics. Moreover, we are $1.2 trillion short of the balanced budget so many of us want to achieve over the next 7 years. Cutting taxes in this manner and at this time is the absolute height of folly. This bill is the same mindset as the trickle-down, supply-side tax cuts made during the early 1980's. Those tax cuts, along with massive defense spending increases, got us into this fiscal mess. Those tax cuts are the reason each and every child born in this country is born about $20,000 in debt. They are the reason we pay 16 percent of our budget on interest payments on that debt. My constituents have told me over and over that they want us to concentrate on cutting the deficit first. They have said so consistently, and I agree with them. That is why the Deficit Acceleration Bill is not just wrong, but morally objectionable.…”