Political Quotes

“Mr. President, if people have been following the debate on the Senate floor this afternoon, they understand it is focused almost exclusively on the Federal budget deficit and what we are going to do about it. It is a legitimate and timely question, because we are now in negotiations at the highest levels--between the President and the leaders in the House and Senate--to try to find some way through our impasse. The challenge is to find a way to reduce America's deficit and, at the end of the day, to extend our debt ceiling. The debt ceiling has a deadline of August 2. We have never in our history failed to extend our debt ceiling. To fail to do so would be the equivalent of defaulting on a mortgage payment. And, of course, we all know the consequences to any homeowner or family if that occurs. You understand your credit rating is not going to be the best after you have defaulted. The same thing would be true with America. You also may find the next time you need a mortgage that particular bank may not want to lend to you again. The same thing is true with America. It has a negative impact on your lifestyle. All of a sudden you are in a suspect class and it isn't as easy to borrow money to buy a car or to make some other purchase. That is the risk we are running at the highest possible level when it comes to this debt ceiling vote on August 2. We have never--underline the word never--defaulted on a debt ceiling extension in the history of the United States of America.…”