Political Quotes

“I wish to talk about our Nation's financial troubles. Over the years, I have supported a balanced budget amendment, spending caps, and spending cuts. Recently, we had a proposal to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year, and I voted against it because I felt we needed to do more than the amendment proposed. The fact is, we need to do much more. I agree Congress should cut expenses. But taking whacks at only 12 percent of the budget--that part of the budget that is the so-called discretionary spending portion outside of Defense, that is not part of the mandatory spending, such as all the entitlement programs, and that is only 12 percent of the budget and includes funding for education and roads and bridges and medical research and NASA and environmental research--even if we whacked all that, it is still not going to solve the problem. Cutting this domestic discretionary spending alone is barely a bandaid, let alone a real cure. What we need is a comprehensive long-term package. For example, when American families fall on hard times, they just do not cut back on eating out or going to the movies. The American family is forced to make wholesale lifestyle sacrifices. Or take, for instance, when a company, a corporation, faces the threat of bankruptcy. They do not only cut salaries or stop buying office supplies, they go in and restructure entire delivery schemes and future investments.…”