Rick Allen: “What is so startling is all this has happened in just a few months, so those of us who were saying this is a reckless…”

“What is so startling is all this has happened in just a few months, so those of us who were saying this is a reckless approach, this an irresponsible approach back in March and April, now find ourselves saying, you know, we told you this was a possible outcome. We told you that the policy was irresponsible. Now, Mr. President, how do we dig ourselves out of that? I think that the point the gentleman was making about Social Security and Medicare, it is very true. But it is also true when I travel around my State of Maine and talk to business owners, for example, they say to me, apart from health care, which seems to be their number one problem, the high cost of health care, they talk about the qualifications of the workforce. They realize that they are only going to succeed if they have well-trained, well-educated, well-qualified workers for the jobs which they need. It gets harder and harder. If too many kids do not get Head Start, if you do not have enough spending on title I funds for kids from disadvantaged areas, if you are not fully funding special education in accordance with the promises made by this Congress in the past, if young people in this country do not have the funds to go on and get the college or technical college education they need, we are not going to be as strong a country, as competitive; and our businesses will not do as well. Those are simple facts. Yet the examples I have given are examples of public investments.”