Mike Johanns: “I rise today to speak against raising the debt ceiling. This is a decision that should not be taken lightly. No one in…”

“I rise today to speak against raising the debt ceiling. This is a decision that should not be taken lightly. No one in this body should take this decision lightly. It is a serious matter, enormously serious. Our country has debt, and it is important that we start to deal with these commitments and the spending that is just out of control. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: "Pay every debt as if God wrote the bill." Yet I could not support increasing the amount that the Treasury can borrow by $1.9 trillion--it is the largest increase ever contemplated--in the current environment of spending the people's money as if it meant nothing.”