Bob Wise: “this is not a debate about the scope, the size of government, and there are no tax hikes in this substitute. This is…”

“this is not a debate about the scope, the size of government, and there are no tax hikes in this substitute. This is about the role of investment, and it does not matter whether we want a bigger budget or a smaller budget. What the gentleman from California is forcing us all to do in this budget is to look at what role investment plays in the economy. It is possible to balance the budget on paper and totally unbalance an economy. We can cut ourselves right down to nothing but, if we do not invest in those things that help the economy grow, not government grow, the economy grow, then what have we done, what have we produced? What the gentleman does is actually put together an investment budget similar to what the General Accounting Office has recommended. To some of my friends who support capital budgeting, I am a big fan of that, this is not capital budgeting. Capital budgeting is not in this proposal. Nor does it take anything off budget. But what it does do in accordance with GAO recommendations is it puts aside a part of the budget as an investment budget. It separates for the first time in a meaningful way in the Federal budget what a dollar does.”