There are those on the Democratic side of the aisle who say we can't afford tax relief for Americans because we need to spend the money to pay down the federal debt. If I really thought they were serious about this, I might be more inclined to listen to them. The problem is, in the four years I've been here, I haven't seen any of their actions back up this rhetoric. I have been working with my colleagues Senators Allard, Voinovich, and others to actually implement a policy that ensures we pay off the entire publicly-held debt regardless of whether all the budget surplus numbers materialize. Our Democratic friends love to talk about debt reduction when it comes time to vote on a tax cut, but their enthusiasm disappears as soon as the next appropriations bill hits the floor and they envision a thousand new ways to spend that same surplus.
Spending locks the American taxpayer into an eternal debt.
We talk about how the cost of living is going up and we better spend more on that program to cover additional costs. We expect to increase program spending on that basis. The evaluation isn't whether the program is good or not working. So every time a dime of the American tax payer's money is spent on a new program, that dime is obligated year in and year out for their generation, and generations to come. Tax relief isn't locked in quite that well.