Political Quotes

“This morning the Republican leader came to the floor, Senator McConnell, and made some pretty strong and sweeping statements about the state of the deficit and responsibility. I would like to have a chance to respond. Senator McConnell said for 2 years now Washington Democrats have taken fiscal recklessness to new heights. The amount of red ink Democrats plan to wrack up this year alone would exceed all the debt run up by the Federal Government since its inception through 1984. I would like to set the record straight. Understand what the national debt of America was when President William Jefferson Clinton left office. We were running surpluses. We had not done that for decades-- surpluses in the Federal Treasury. What did we do with all this money? We put it in the Social Security trust fund. We bought more longevity and solvency for Social Security and, if you remember, the economy was never stronger. William Jefferson Clinton left office, and at that moment in time, the national debt, the accumulated debt of America, from George Washington until he left office, $5 trillion. Remember that number, $5 trillion. Fast forward 8 years after the end of President George W. Bush--8 years later--where were we? The national debt was now $12 trillion. Fiscal recklessness by Democrats? Under President Bush, the national debt more than doubled.”