Political Quotes

“I know it's painful, but I think it's instructive. As you walk with me down memory lane, let's look at under which Presidents we operated on a deficit and under which Presidents we operated at a surplus. President Reagan, $1.4 trillion deficit. President Bush, didn't get any better, got worse, $3.3 trillion deficit. Go to President Clinton, we went from a record deficit at the time to a record surplus of $5.6 trillion. And then when President Bush finished office after being handed a record surplus, he finished office with an $11.5 trillion deficit, handing that record to President Obama. And, as you said, after having driven our economy off a cliff, now the Republicans are asking for the keys once again. Facts being stubborn things, as I mentioned, the Republicans consistently voted against statutory PAYGO. In fact, under the Bush administration, they allowed statutory PAYGO to lapse, which is, in large part, why we ended up in a deficit situation. They deficit-spent like drunken sailors--two wars not paid for, the Medicare prescription drug part D program. As good and as pleased as we are that seniors have their prescription drugs paid for, we know that program was deeply flawed, could have been a thousand times better. Ultimately, we were able to fix it in the Affordable Care Act. But they blindly spent, through tax cuts and spending, and now suddenly seem to have found religion when it comes to spending and deficits.”