On the recordJanuary 1, 2013
I wish I could say that this was a proud moment, a moment in which we started the year off right, in which the 1st of January was the first of a great many good things. It isn't. We're kicking the can down the road. Worse than that, when faced with a mountain of debt that we were heading for, like an airplane, did we climb over it? No. What we're going to do in the present plan is put another nearly trillion dollars' worth of debt on the American people. Time is running out to change the direction because that trillion dollars isn't just a problem for the next generation. It's a problem for corporate America, and it's a problem for every American. The trillion dollars we spend and waste this year is $1 trillion that we will have to bear for the rest of our lives. Mr. Speaker, I may vote for what comes on the floor. I certainly will vote for a bill, which I'm going to manage in a few minutes, to hold down the growth of spending in the government; but I'll tell you, I won't do it thinking we've accomplished anything here today other than the smallest finger in a dike that, in fact, has hundreds of holes in it. ____________________
