Political Quotes

“I wanted to state the facts here so everybody understands them. We have called this--as the Speaker has, in essence--Paying China First, and so many others, except for Social Security beneficiaries, come last, come next, if at all. And here's the reason: of the prioritized debt covered by this bill, 47 percent is foreign owned, and China bondholders are the largest ones of that foreign ownership. So, essentially, what this bill says is, okay, let's pay China and the other foreign bondholders first, not American troops, not disabled veterans, not physicians, providers who treat Medicare patients, not small businesses holding contract obligations from the United States, school lunch programs secondary, medical research, Pell grants, taxpayers due refunds, and, interestingly, other Federal trust funds holding Treasury bonds, Medicare, deposit insurance, et cetera, et cetera. That's the fact. That's the fact. So why do this? Well, it is said let's do this because of the importance of paying the bonds in terms of our economy and in terms of our bond rating. Let me just say a word about bond rating. Here's what Fitch has said: It is not assured that the Treasury would or legally could prioritize debt service over its myriad of other obligations, including social security payments, tax rebates, and payments to contractors and employees.…”