But the House bill would authorize the modest sums it says would be required — $22 million in fix-up costs over five years and $1 million a year thereafter — and this, in turn, would be supplemented by state money.
"You're too modest," I said.
It said: A modest recovery is expected to start in late 2013, supported by net exports.
While the report praised the I.R.S. as a generally well-run operation, it said a modest increase in funds would allow it to make substantial progress in reducing the deficit by collecting unpaid taxes.
This would lead to a rise in disposable household incomes and a "modest boost" in consumer spending, it said.
"While we will raise prices from time to time, we expect those price increases to be much more modest and within industry norms," it said.
"Doing politics like this, on this very modest level, I sometimes get embarrassed by how modest it is," he said.
That relatively modest investment by DOE, it says, could bolster research into drilling technology, plant designs, or even using CO2 to get underground heat--all elements of the enhanced strategy.
The shrine set up on the stage was actually modest, but he acknowledged it, saying, "I did study in London, and there I had experience with Buddhist studies.
Environmentalists called the step modest, but said it was a breakthrough in one respect: It placed leading Republicans and one key Democrat, Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, on the record as supporting an increase in standards.
