Political Quotes

“today, America faces no greater threat to its growth and prosperity than our uncontrolled national debt. Currently, the country's debt exceeds $16 trillion. We are passing this amount of money on to our children and grandchildren to pay off. It is simply far too large a burden to be placing on them. As we move forward, it is clear that we must discuss spending. I know that President Obama is hyper-focused on increasing taxes as part of a deficit-reduction proposal. However, if we are serious about reducing our debt, we must talk about spending--not sometime next year, not only after we talk about taxes. We must talk about our spending Now. We need to have a thoughtful conversation that focuses on where our Federal spending most calls for control and containment. I would like to begin by drawing your attention to this chart I have in the Chamber. This chart from the Congressional Budget Office details noninterest spending as a percentage of GDP. We already know the significant role health care spending plays in our budget. Over the next decade, the Federal Government will spend over $7 trillion on Medicare and $4.5 trillion on Medicaid. Together these two programs account for one-quarter of the entire Federal Government's spending throughout the next 10 years. But look closely at the even longer term projections of our spending.…”