Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, this has been a terrible year in Congress. The intransigence of the Republican leadership and the Tea Party Republicans has brought us to the brink of crisis again and again. And now we're playing another game of chicken with the lives and well-being of millions of American families at stake. Did the Republican leadership in the House just learn today that at the end of this month, in 10 or 11 days, these tax breaks, the unemployment insurance, and the physician reimbursements were going to expire? No, they learned about it earlier. So they packaged a bill. And the only way they could figure to pay for it was to take it out of the Federal employees, ask the elderly to pay more for their Medicare, to cut back on spending, never to raise taxes on people who make $1 million a year. The Senate had the same issue before them, and the Democrats there wanted to have a tax increase. They couldn't get that through. So the Senators negotiated a short-term extension for 2 months because they couldn't agree to 1 year, and that passed overwhelmingly. That is what we should be voting on today. Instead, starting January 1, the House Republicans are bringing a tax increase to 160 million Americans, forcing 2 million Americans to the edge of despair as their unemployment benefits run out, and scaring 48 million seniors who worry about their doctors opting out of providing services under Medicare.…”