On the recordJuly 30, 2011
I just ask, is it possible to negotiate with someone who does not have a plan or will not offer a plan or put a plan on the table? The finger-pointing is relevant, but it is not an essential issue here. Also, in March of this year--March 30, to be exact--I wrote an op-ed piece that ran in the Wall Street Journal which outlined the things I was looking for to be a part of this debate. I was told in March of this year that we didn't have enough time to do all those things, although later we found that perhaps we did--this grand bargain. I am prepared, as I stand here today, if there is a meeting going on after this, I am prepared to discuss the things I believe we need to do, not just to raise the debt limit--raising the debt limit is the easiest thing this country has to do right now. That is one vote away. It is hard to show the world we are serious about putting our spending in order so that we can pay our bills down the road. That is a combination of things I have outlined very clearly not just in March of this year in the Wall Street Journal but in repeated speeches on this floor. We need to do two things. We need to grow our economy. While the debt is the biggest issue in Washington, jobs are the biggest issue facing America. If we can get more people back to work, we will have more people paying taxes. If we had more people paying taxes, we would have more revenue for our government.…
