Jack Kingston: “I want to ask my colleagues this question, and I want them to think about it in the context of the debate in the last…”

“I want to ask my colleagues this question, and I want them to think about it in the context of the debate in the last couple of weeks. Is the issue the Government shutdown or is the issue balancing the budget? It would appear to me, as I have listened to the debate over the last couple of weeks, that the issue is the shutdown. We are concentrating so much on it, I am wondering if, for some Members, it is not a red herring. Because if it is not the issue, and the issue really is a balanced budget, then should your Members not join our Members in being absolutely outraged that the President, during that 3-week grace period, did not offer a balanced budget scored by the Congressional Budget Office? And, as my colleagues pointed out, it seems all three of you support the coalition budget, or you are close to it. Why not put that on the table? The second he does that, the Government is reopened.”