Don't discount the pleasure of good socks...
Check out this exchange between Jeff Sessions and James Inhofe in the Senate yesterday.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma. He is a great leader in the Senate. I admire his work on this committee and his leadership as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee on which I serve with him. I don't dispute that the Joint Tax Committee has said the offsets the Finance Committee has proposed, if adopted, might meet the needs of this increase.
I understand some of those proposed offsets probably will not have support in the House. I would like to see the Senator's goal of spending more money on our road infrastructure and transportation system that serves the commercial transportation needs of all the products that we eat, buy, and utilize daily--that are shipped from trucks on highways all over America--I would like to see that guaranteed. I am afraid if we go the way we are now, we will not be able to hold the full increase that has been proposed when we get to conference. But if we would face up to the question and set some priorities and choose between some of the things that are in this bill that are less fundamental and some of the things that are desirable--things we would like to do but we really don't have to do as much as others--and reduce some of the increases proposed for those programs and move that into the fundamental
infrastructure for highways, I would feel better about it.
I think the Senator is not really in disagreement too much with that. But when you move a piece of legislation as he has, it requires a lot of cooperation and partnership.
Mr. INHOFE. Yes, I agree. We hear all the time in this body and all representative bodies about what is desirable. It reminds me of the guy who went to the department store, and this beautiful, young, voluptuous saleslady came up to him and she said: Sir, what is your desire? And he said: Well, my "desire" is to pick you up after work, go out to dinner and drink some champagne and make mad, passionate love to you, but I "need" a pair of socks.
We have to distinguish between desire and need, and I think it is a difficult thing to do.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma. He is a great leader in the Senate. I admire his work on this committee and his leadership as a senior member of the Armed Services Committee on which I serve with him. I don't dispute that the Joint Tax Committee has said the offsets the Finance Committee has proposed, if adopted, might meet the needs of this increase.
I understand some of those proposed offsets probably will not have support in the House. I would like to see the Senator's goal of spending more money on our road infrastructure and transportation system that serves the commercial transportation needs of all the products that we eat, buy, and utilize daily--that are shipped from trucks on highways all over America--I would like to see that guaranteed. I am afraid if we go the way we are now, we will not be able to hold the full increase that has been proposed when we get to conference. But if we would face up to the question and set some priorities and choose between some of the things that are in this bill that are less fundamental and some of the things that are desirable--things we would like to do but we really don't have to do as much as others--and reduce some of the increases proposed for those programs and move that into the fundamental
infrastructure for highways, I would feel better about it.
I think the Senator is not really in disagreement too much with that. But when you move a piece of legislation as he has, it requires a lot of cooperation and partnership.
Mr. INHOFE. Yes, I agree. We hear all the time in this body and all representative bodies about what is desirable. It reminds me of the guy who went to the department store, and this beautiful, young, voluptuous saleslady came up to him and she said: Sir, what is your desire? And he said: Well, my "desire" is to pick you up after work, go out to dinner and drink some champagne and make mad, passionate love to you, but I "need" a pair of socks.
We have to distinguish between desire and need, and I think it is a difficult thing to do.
posted by Drogon Saurischian at 5/17/2005 02:48:00 PM
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