Political Quotes

“The gentleman made reference to the fact that he was a mayor, and I made the comment to the gentleman once, and I believe it, that of all of the public officials I have ever worked with throughout the country, I think mayors understand fiscal responsibility the best. The gentleman made reference to the fact that he functioned under a balanced budget as a mayor. Was there any magic to that? How did the gentleman do that? He had a requirement to do that, so what did he do? I yield to the gentleman from Utah. Mr. McADAMS. Well, one thing, I had a council of nine members: five Republicans and four Democrats. And one thing I know from experience is balancing a budget is hard. We have to make really tough choices. There are certainly things that may not be meritorious expenses that are easy to say no to, but by and large, we have to make some really tough decisions. We can't do it all, even though we might want to do it all. You cannot do it all. And what it takes is, first of all, have a bipartisan relationship where people put their priorities on the table, discuss what they want to accomplish, and how they want to get there. And then everyone has to continue to work together to refine proposals, to make sure that you cut the fat out of proposals and make sure that they are well refined, and every dollar spent is justified. Ultimately, we have been able to balance a budget.…”