Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to ask a simple question: What are we doing here? What are we doing jeopardizing our economic recovery to score political points? I happen to agree with my friend and colleague from Nebraska. I am optimistic also in that we have agreed on a $78 billion reduction in the 2011 budget. The glass isn't half full, it is more than three- quarters full. They are grandstanding over the Federal budget when we should be focusing on making sure American families can make their monthly budgets and get back to work. I am here to downplay the need to cut the Federal deficit. I agree with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--we need to make real cuts now. We have already committed to the deepest cuts in discretionary spending since World War II. Given that we are already halfway through the fiscal year, these cuts are a good downpayment on even more progress in our fiscal 2012 budget and beyond. As a member of the Senate Budget Committee, I am already putting forth concrete recommendations for more cuts in future budget years, such as eliminating the ``orphan earmarks,'' saving upwards of $1 billion; cutting subsidies for millionaire farmers, saving, again, billions of dollars; cutting tax loopholes, saving tens of billions of dollars. Shutting down the government is not going to get us any closer to the real goal of reducing the deficit. We didn't save a single dime during the last shutdown. In fact, it cost the American taxpayers $1.4 billion.…”