Ed Case: “I rise in full and unqualified support of my colleague from California's motion, a motion that asks this House to do…”

“I rise in full and unqualified support of my colleague from California's motion, a motion that asks this House to do what the Senate, on a bipartisan basis, has already done, a motion that Democrat and Republican Presidents, Democrat and Republican colleagues of Congress have passed; that the conservative Concord Coalition as well as Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan supports; a motion that any business, family, or consumer can understand and has to live by and, frankly, a motion that most Republicans in this Chamber would probably love to vote for, if only they could. It is a motion that stands for this basic principle: when you balance a budget, it is not balanced unless and until you balance it all. Mr. Speaker, what is so hard about PAYGO? Why can my House colleagues on the other side of the aisle, in the party that professes budget discipline, not see what their own colleagues in the Senate see clearly? Is it a failure to understand, is it a failure to agree, or is it a denial of reality? I cannot believe it is a failure to understand. My own teenage son understands that when he balances his budget, he cannot leave out any part of it. He cannot leave out the spending. He cannot leave out any potential reductions in income. My neighbors and I understand that there is a difference between a budget that has a home mortgage payment in it and a budget that does not.”