Political Quotes

“I am strongly in support of deficit reduction and favor the elimination of the national debt over a period of time. I have long supported a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. I supported the 1993 reconciliation bill which has already led to significant reduction in our annual deficits. However, there is a right and wrong way to pursue the same goal. There are proposals to adjust the Consumer Pricing Index [CPI] in an attempt to correct biases in its computation. This plan is to reduce the CPI by one-half of a percentage point. I feel that this is nothing more than masquerading an attempt to cut Social Security benefits and raise taxes. As we all know, the CPI has a major effect on Federal outlays, revenue, and the budget deficit. Outlays are affected because programs such as civil service retirement pay and Social Security benefits are adjusted so that the purchasing power of those payments will be preserved. Revenues are affected because taxes are adjusted so that increases in income are taxed at a higher rate only if the increase exceeds inflation.”