Political Quotes

“You know, when you boil this all down, essentially what this bill says is pay some bills first and not others. I came here because, if the rule passes, we'll have a full discussion tomorrow, but I wanted to share with everybody the story that I saw this morning. It's accurate. The headline is: ``John Boehner on Debt Ceiling: Let's Pay China First, Then U.S. Troops.'' That headline in Huff Post is based on an interview with the Speaker on Bloomberg TV by Peter Cook. I quote Mr. Cook: Doesn't it mean, as Democrats have suggested, that you're basically choosing to pay China before you pay U.S. troops? The Speaker: Listen, those who have loaned us money, like in any other proceeding, if you will, court proceeding, the bondholders usually get paid first. Same thing here. Then the Speaker says, to conclude his comments as to the Administration: If it comes to the point where they don't have enough money to pay the bills, here is some order that we think is sound. It's not sound. As the SAP says, it's not workable. It endangers our economy. I quote Keith Hennessey, a former Bush administration economist: It would be the first step to becoming a banana republic. A bloody mess. As mentioned earlier by our distinguished ranking member on the Rules Committee, another Bush administration official, Tony Fratto, said: Prioritization is impossible.…”