Russ Feingold: “I will vote against this tax bill because it is not fiscally responsible. This enormous tax cut may end up raiding the…”

“I will vote against this tax bill because it is not fiscally responsible. This enormous tax cut may end up raiding the Medicare and Social Security Trust Fund balances. It risks a return to the annual budget deficits Congress worked so hard to eliminate. It will cause our Nation to miss what may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put our fiscal house in order by paying down debt, strengthening Social Security, and modernizing Medicare. And it does not fairly distribute its benefits. For these reasons, I must oppose it. This is the most momentous budgetary vote in two decades. For with this vote, Congress appears poised to turn its back on 8 years of fiscal responsibility. With this vote, Congress appears willing to return to the deficit spending days of the 1980s. I do believe that taxpayers deserve tax relief. With the favorable surpluses before us, we should cut taxes. I supported Senator Conrad's proposal to cut taxes by $745 billion over the next 10 years. With its associated interest costs, that package would have devoted roughly $900 billion to tax relief. But the tax cut in this conference report is too large relative to the surpluses that economists have projected. It seeks to devote $1.35 trillion to this one purpose. Interest costs could add another $400 billion to the cost.”