When Democrats sang a different tune
2001: “I believe that the bill we have passed today is shortsighted and fiscally irresponsible. Comprehensive tax relief must be measured against the need to maintain fiscal discipline, and stimulate economic growth through continued federal investment in education and job training, as well as giving relief to citizens in times of surplus. The conference report passed today fails this test.” Source
“It is very likely that we will only be able to afford this tax cut by raiding the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.” Source
Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) (Member of the House of Representatives in 2001 and 2003)
2001: “Congress needs to make a choice: large tax cuts for the well off, or deal with poverty problems in America’s families.” Source
Former Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.)
2001: “President Bush’s tax cut is just too big…It’s so big that it could easily drive us back to the deficits of the 1980s, leading to higher interest rates and putting the strength of our economy at risk.” Source
“And what about the nation’s other needs? Where will the money come from to improve education, provide prescription drug coverage and strengthen national defense? Where will the money come from to pay down our long-term national debt?” Source
“We’ve just spent the better part of the last decade putting this nation’s economy back on track. The results have been remarkable. We must not jeopardize that progress, and we must not return to the days of deficits and decline. America simply cannot afford the Bush tax plan.” Source
“We should have passed a more modest tax cut and reserved more money for long-term and short-term debt reduction, so we could be certain we are keeping on course to reduce this national debt.” Source
“Have we learned nothing from the past? We tried this same approach in the 1980s, and it skyrocketed the deficits and the debt, and it took us 15 years to end it.” Source
2001: “The people I have spoken to across Illinois support a tax cut to benefit everyone, not primarily the rich…And they want that tax cut to be reasonable in size so we pay down our national debt and still invest in important priorities like education, prescription drugs for the elderly and reforming Social Security and Medicare.” Source
“We did face a situation here where, after years of fighting off deficits, after years of a slow economy, we finally saw a turnaround, we saw a surplus, we had our opportunity, and we blew it. We blew it today with this vote in the United States Senate.” Source
“I think this tax bill is a serious mistake. The Congress of the United States made a grievous error in the early 1980s under President Reagan when we accepted his message — and many voted for it — that called for a massive tax cut. It is easy to preach the gospel of a tax cut. What could be easier for a politician than to go to people and say, I want to reduce your taxes. There can’t be anything more appealing. But we have a responsibility in the Congress to reflect on what the tax cut means and whether or not it is the right thing to do. In the Reagan years, when many yielded to the siren call for a tax cut, they created a deficit situation in this country which crippled our economy for more than 10 years. History tells the story.” Source
“This bill eliminates our ability to make necessary investments in the future of this country, the most important being education. All the speeches that have been given about bipartisan commitment to funding new education programs really disappear in a heartbeat when we vote to pass a tax cut which takes away the money that is absolutely essential for us to make sure that our kids in the 21st century are well prepared to lead the world. I encourage all of my colleagues to oppose this bill, to vote for a tax cut for American families that is fair, one that does not go too far and jeopardize our economy, Social Security, or Medicare.” Source
2003: “The majority of the benefits ought to go to the majority of Americans…This latest Bush proposal is as bad as the first one. It is not going to save the economy. It is going to help the fat cat contributors.” Source
“If the President’s plan of tax cuts for wealthy people is exactly the medicine to cure our problems, how do we explain the fact that the economy is still so sick two years after the President tried this tax cut the first time?” Source
“This bill is fiscally irresponsible. It was irresponsible two years ago. It devastated the economy. It added to our deficit. It has created more problems economically than this country has seen in many years.” Source
2001: “This is a case of ‘here we go again,’ back to 1981 with Ronald Reagan. The American people have a clear choice. We can go back to Reaganomics, where you cut much more than you can, give a big tax cut mostly to the wealthy at the expense of a lot of people at the lower end.” Source
“We want to make sure we pay down debt. We want to make sure we can invest in the future of this country, prescription drugs, education for our children, our transportation needs, a host of other issues.” Source
“Well, Americans deserve a tax cut, but Americans do not deserve what this tax bill will do to them and to the country. This tax bill, regrettably, sets us on a course which will deny us the ability to maintain the fiscal responsibility we worked so hard to achieve the last eight years.” Source
“I think this really defines, in the clearest of terms, a new fight. And a new fight begins now as a consequence of this tax bill. And that new fight is going to be over the real priorities of the American people and how they can be met within the straitjacket that has been created by the amount of money going back in this tax cut, most of it to one level.” Source
“So what you’re seeing is a purposeful, strategically designed, crowding out of the real ability of Congress to address concerns, which they as a party, have never wanted to address and have even voted against time and time again. It’s hard to believe now, but some people even voted against Medicare originally. They voted against the Clean Water Act. They voted against the Clean Air Act. They voted against Safe Drinking Water Act. And in 1994 when they took over the House, they tried to undo those measures. This tax bill by its size alone is a back-door entry effort to try to squeeze out the beast that they don’t like and haven’t been able to contain otherwise, and it will now define the fight, really, for the next 10 or 15 years as a consequence of what’s happened here.” Source