Michael Bennet: “I rise to talk about the proposed tax compromise. Before doing that, since the Senator from Oklahoma is on the floor, I…”

“I rise to talk about the proposed tax compromise. Before doing that, since the Senator from Oklahoma is on the floor, I wished to say how grateful I am for his courage in supporting the bipartisan commission's report on the deficit and the debt. His vote for that, as well as the votes of Senators Crapo, Durbin, and Conrad, in 22 months in this place, this is the first time I have felt any confidence that we may actually be moving in the right direction. I wish to thank him for casting that vote. No one who voted for that, Democratic Senator or Republican Senator, agrees with everything that is in the package. But what we do agree with is that we need a plan to get this right. That is what we need to do. There is a lot of talk in this town about whose side are you on. I hear that all the time. I will tell one quick story from the campaign trail. Every single townhall meeting I had, the issue of the deficit and the debt came up, profound anxiety among the people of my State that we are going to leave less opportunity, not more, to our kids and grandkids. I share the Senator's view that time is short. If we don't make these decisions, the capital markets are going to make them for us. It will not be like that frog in the boiling water. One morning, one day somebody in the capital markets is going to wake and say: I am not going to buy your paper anymore at that price.”