Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the provisions in the bill before the House that restore the pay-as-you-go budget rules. The PAYGO rules simply require that new entitlement spending and new tax cut proposals be fully paid for with offsetting savings. Failure to do so would result in mandatory spending cuts. These rules were instrumental to the successful effort to rein in soaring deficits in the 1990s and resulted in balanced budgets during the final years of the Clinton administration. Unfortunately, the pay-as-you-go rules expired in 2002 and the Bush administration and the then Republican majority in Congress refused to renew them. Our nation's fiscal health has paid a heavy price for that refusal. Yesterday, the House Ways and Means Committee heard testimony from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Specifically, Dr. Orszag testified that the large deficits we confront today in large measure reflect the failure to pay for policies in the past. Dr. Orszag said, ``More than half of these deficits can be linked to the previous administration's failure to pay for the 2001/2003 tax cuts and the prescription drug bill. Over the next ten years, these two unpaid-for policies are slated to add $5.8 trillion to the deficit, including interest expense on the additional associated debt.'' Returning to the budget discipline of the pay-as-you-go rules is common sense and will help ensure that we don't repeat the reckless tax and spending mistakes of the past.”