Tammy Baldwin: “in the spring of 2001, the President and some Members of Congress told the American people that we could afford a $1.6…”

“in the spring of 2001, the President and some Members of Congress told the American people that we could afford a $1.6 trillion tax cut that was custom designed by, and primarily for, our wealthiest citizens, and still we would have money left over to shore up Social Security and Medicare, make investments in our education system, so that no child would be left behind. And still, we would have enough money left over beyond that to pay down our national debt. Well, today we know that that was not true. Except for the passage of the tax cut, none of the rest of those things happened. And to make matters worse, the tax cut left no room for unexpected events like the terrorist attacks on September 11 or the economic downturn that our country is still experiencing. Projected surpluses have been replaced by deficits as far as the eye can see. Fast forward 2 years to today and this Congress is debating yet another tax cut. President Bush has made ending double taxation of corporate dividends the centerpiece of his $1.4 trillion package, because he says that this tax is contraindicated by certain economic models. Well, since January of 2001, our country has lost more than 2.3 million jobs, an average of 73,000 jobs per month. And the long-term unemployment level is the same as it was during the recession under the first Bush administration. Now is not the time to have philosophical debates about economic models.…”