I mean, I think the rating agencies are able to look at the liabilities there and the liabilities on bonds and make informed decisions.

It is really up to the Governors and, I would say, mayors, which have actually a larger amount of the debt out there than States do.

I think the idea of a summit is fine, but I really believe that the role of the Budget Committee should--as a former mayor, what we used to do, we would present our budget to the Budget Committee.

the certainty of what our tax policies are, I think, are going to be very critical long-term

the process of a CR is damaging and is irresponsible.

if we have those discussions, we may have assumptions that we can lay down, but then we at least can know what those numbers will be

the big chunk of our retirement funds--I can tell you, as a former mayor, we invested in U.S. securities all the time because it is the safest and the right place to put the money.

I would echo what Senator Wyden said in regards to tax reform.

it would impact direct services and potential services that local governments could provide because their ability to borrow would diminish if there is a debt crisis.

We never used one-time resources for ongoing expenses.

I want to echo and make sure I heard what you said.

Ours is actually vested in our Constitution.

That is how legal it is.

we have to re-examine what is the right approach.

I think we create a problem by going down the path of discussion when we know Governors are not asking for it.

we cannot afford to be on the track we are on financially for this country because at the end of the day we will hit a brick wall, and there will be nothing available for us to operate.

I do have some of the concerns that Senator Thune has, that, you know, we have to make the financing work the right way.

We need to move forward on a real plan.