"I believe that we need to concentrate on economy-level goals of work, saving, investment, the things that will strengthen the economy."
"I believe the effects would be larger on the small business end than they would be for individuals working for other employers."
"If people don't feel a program is fair, then the political support does tend to fall apart."
"The fiscal crisis at the State and local level has many causes. The proximate cause is the significant economic recession, from which the U.S. economy still struggles to recover."
"I don't believe I have said that public pensions are the cause of the problems."
"What happens in most States is the legislature will set the discount rate that they want to use for the pension."
"It is the chasing of returns that is driven by the fact that a high return is imposed on them by legislatures."
"Obviously, a large portion of the debt that has been issued and is currently being issued by the United States is held by overseas investors, including China."
"the average rate of tax collection has been roughly 18 percent of GDP. Whether we like it or not, whether we think it should be higher or not, it is a reality and this reality is nonnegotiable."
"resolving these issues in the near term helps both individuals, businesses and financial markets have confidence in the activities they are undertaking."
"In a weak economy, where you are facing financial instability, higher income people... have the greater ability to weather that."
"We have got billionaires that aren't paying any taxes all over this country, we have everyone sheltering money offshore..."