Political Quotes

“Let me explain to those who may be watching and do not appreciate the difference between budget outlays and budget authority what we are talking about here. Congress frequently passes laws granting authority to spend amounts of money on Government programs, but until that authority is backed up by appropriations, it does not mean anything. Granted, you have to have the authority, but you also have to have the money. When we say that we are going to offset this disaster relief by rescinding certain budget authority, that authority may never be funded. It frequently is not funded, and as a result it is not really offsetting actual expenditures or money that is going to be spent. It is merely offsetting authority that may or may not ever be funded and money that may or may not ever be spent. Senator Gramm has done a good job of analogizing the two things that are necessary to writing a check. You need a check or a checkbook of checks and you also need some money in the bank. The budget authority is like your checkbook, but unless you have the money in the bank, the checkbook does not do you a whole lot of good. So you tear up a bunch of checks and throw them in the wastebasket and say we have offset the spending. You have not really done that. All you have done is removed that check, not the money in the bank. We need to offset the spending in this disaster relief bill, which we support, with actual money so that we do not end up spending both and thereby break the budget deal.”