Political Quotes

“Mr. President, each year the President presents a budget. It is the beginning of the formal conversation about what next year's budget will be, and each President presents their offering and their suggestion. Then, of course, the House and the Senate have to try to reach an agreement as to what the actual budget will be. The President suggests a bottom line in spending, and then the House and the Senate make appropriations decisions within that bottom line. Today, President Obama kicked off this conversation by presenting his budget to America. He presented it at a time when he faces two very significant challenges: how to create more jobs and less debt. It is a tough balancing act because we know that to reduce the debt, we need to reduce spending. What the President reminds us is, let's not cut spending in areas that are critical for the growth of our economy and the creation of good-paying jobs in America. The unemployment rate is about 9 percent. Mr. President, 13.9 million Americans are out of work. In Illinois, it is 9.3 percent, with 620,000 people actively looking for jobs. Too many people want to work so they can keep a roof over their heads but cannot find a job. At the same time, though, we have a $14 trillion debt. I hope the Presiding Officer will forgive me for a little history because I think it is worth noting when we talk about the debt of America how we have reached the point we are at today.…”