Political Quotes

“I just want to read the facts why this bill essentially says ``China first.'' I want everybody to understand this isn't rhetoric; this is reality. The Republicans, under this bill, prioritize $14.3 trillion in debt, of that, $2.7 trillion in Social Security and $11.6 trillion in public debt. Of that public debt, $5.6 trillion is foreign. So when you come up and talk about all of the American public, you are not talking about what is in this bill. And of that foreign debt, the largest creditor is China, with over $1 trillion. {time} 1030 So it's absolutely true that essentially what you're saying is pay the largest of the foreign creditors instead of American troops, veterans, physicians, school lunch programs, universities doing medical research, taxpayers getting refunds, and other Federal trust funds holding Treasury bonds, Medicare--these are Americans'--deposited insurance, highway trust funds, et cetera, et cetera. That's the fact. Now, there's some effort here to say, oh, we're not defaulting. Yes, you are. You're not defaulting on sovereign debt, but you're defaulting, except for Social Security, on everything else. Republicans are becoming lead defaulters in terms of paying our debt. As I said earlier, the credit agencies have said, and I'll close with this: It is not assured that the Treasury would or legally could prioritize debt service over its myriad of other obligations . . . but very likely prompt downgrade, even as our debt obligations continued to be met.…”