Evan Bayh on the budget:
“The spending blueprint voted on by the Senate today represents an improvement from years past because it is more transparent and honest than the budgets to which we've grown accustomed. The money we will borrow will fund important priorities like affordable health care, energy independence, job creation, and education improvements, rather than tax cuts for the most affluent. “However, under this budget, our national debt skyrockets from $11.1 trillion today to an estimated $17 trillion in 2014. As a percentage of our gross domestic product, it reaches a precarious 66.5 percent. The deficit remains larger than our projected economic growth, an unsustainable state of affairs. This budget will increase our borrowing from and dependence upon foreign nations. “I cannot support such results. We can do better, and for the sake of our nation and our children’s future, we must.”
Yesterday, Evan Bayh broke with his party on a vote besides the budget: He was one of nine Democrats to support the Kyl-Lincoln estate tax bill reducing the estate tax on rich families at a cost of $250 billion over 10 years. The tax change is not paid for, and so that $250 billion is borrowed. In his statement, Bayh says that "the money we will borrow will fund important priorities like affordable health care, energy independence, job creation, and education improvements, rather than tax cuts for the most affluent." On first read, I assumed he was paying a compliment to the priorities of the budget. Now I realize he was explaining the reason for his opposition.
