Political Quotes

“I rise for a moment during this time of morning business to talk about what everybody is talking about--the crisis with our debt ceiling, the approaching deadline, and what we should do. Last night, as I thought about what I would say this morning, I thought back to that horrible month of September and October of 2008, when the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression hit the United States. I was a Member of the Senate, and I was here the night the TARP vote came before us to try to salvage and save the financial system of the United States. That was probably the toughest vote I ever took. It was the right vote, because we stabilized the financial system. At that time, we were reacting to a crisis we were not in control of. Today, we have a crisis we are totally in control of. It is ironic to me that 30 or 35 days before the deadline of August 2, we are fiddling around arguing with each other, when we should be talking to each other, looking at those things we can do to avert a crisis and move forward. I see that our leader has come to the floor. I will shorten my remarks so he can have his full time. This is a crisis of which we are in control, unlike 2008. We can make a difference. The balanced budget amendment proposed by the Republican conference of the Senate is the straitjacket and the discipline we all need. When I was a State legislator for 17 years, we had a program on drug abuse that said ``just say no.'' We taught kids not to use drugs.…”