Bill Clinton: “No, I think we are going to pass it. But I think that if you look--there was an article in either the Times or the Wall…”

“No, I think we are going to pass it. But I think that if you look--there was an article in either the Times or the Wall Street Journal today, I can't remember which, which said there was a little bump up in the long-term interest rates yesterday because the bond markets, the people who set these interest rates were afraid that maybe the Congress wasn't serious. I think they are serious. I think they will pass it. There is not a serious alternative. And there is no question that the failure to pass the budget would be a destabilizing effect on the economy. It would lead to an increase in long-term interest rates, there's no question about that. But I'm not trying to talk in terms of Armageddon. I want the Congress to do something that will move the country forward, that'll get energy back in. I feel, frankly, quite good about what's happening. These are tough decisions. You know, the easy decisions had all been made by the time we got here. Anybody can write you a check and run the deficit up. It's quite another thing to try to have a disciplined plan to cut spending, increase revenues in a very fair way, and have a very targeted increase in investments in areas that will generate jobs. That's a much tougher thing to do.”