Political Quotes

“Mr. President, yesterday the Congressional Budget Office-- the CBO--released its budget and economic outlook showing the forecast through 2025. It should strike fear in the heart of anybody who is concerned about this country's financial future. The very short-term news is good. The deficit is projected to fall-- but only for another 2 years. In 2017 the deficit is projected to start rising again to $1.1 trillion in 10 years. That is the annual deficit. By 2025 the deficit will be 4 percent of our overall economy. Right now the country's debt in cumulative deficits over the years-- the cumulative debt--is $18 trillion. This year we will pay about $277 billion just servicing that debt. That amount might seem low, but it is because of artificially low interest rates. In 10 years we will pay about $827 billion a year just to service the debt. That is 3 percent of our economy just to pay interest on the debt. That is unsustainable. Don't take my word for it, though. You can take CBO's. They said: Such large and growing Federal debt would have serious negative consequences, including increasing Federal spending for interest payments; restraining economic growth in the long term; giving policymakers less flexibility to respond to unexpected challenges; and eventually heightening the risk of a financial crisis. I have been working on these issues--this issue in particular--for a long time, and I have to admit that sometimes it is tough to get people to focus on this topic.…”