Bill Clinton: “Well, the consequences of not passing a budget plan-- it won't be exactly as everybody wants it. That's what a democracy…”

“Well, the consequences of not passing a budget plan-- it won't be exactly as everybody wants it. That's what a democracy is about. People get together and work through. But if they don't pass the budget plan by the August recess, what will happen is we'll flail around here for a couple of months. You'll see interest rates start to go up again. Uncertainty will get worse, and you'll wind up with less deficit reduction. Politics will take over, and you'll wind up with less deficit reduction. So the thing we need to do is to make a decision and get on with it. I mean, we've been fooling around with this for long enough. I realize that we're keeping a pace that's faster than normal for Washington; but for America, they want something done. It's time to do something. It means that if you fool around with it, it means we don't deal with health care; we don't deal with welfare reform; we don't deal with the crime bill; we don't deal with all these other issues that are out there crying for attention in America. Eight months is long enough to make a decision about a budget and an economic plan. It's just long enough.”