Russ Feingold: “Thank you, Mr. President. After the debate of the past year, a casual observer might believe that we have finally…”

“Thank you, Mr. President. After the debate of the past year, a casual observer might believe that we have finally achieved a broad political consensus that we must balance the budget. Republicans and Democrats and bipartisan groups have all offered plans to balance the budget over the next 6 years. The President has submitted a budget that reaches balance in 6 years, and 5 years if you use the assumptions and numbers of the OMB. This budget resolution provides for a balanced budget by 2002, as do several alternatives that we have been debating in the process of looking at that budget resolution. Mr. President, one might think that it is only a matter of moving ahead with these various plans until a proposal that can be enacted simply evolves from the political process. Mr. President, the balanced budget veneer of many of these proposals and of this budget resolution in particular obscures a flaw that will make it difficult and maybe impossible to eliminate the deficit and reach balance despite this apparent consensus. Mr. President, that flaw is the massive tax cut that has been proposed and is still being proposed.”