Political Quotes

“Well, of course, it is. I think what is most discouraging is the average person is asking themselves: Why do we inflict this pain on ourselves in the midst of a recession? Why do we have the fear of defaulting on America's debt for the first time in our history? Why would we lose our credit rating, the best in the world--AAA--because of a manufactured political debate in Washington? We will pay for this for a long time to come. For every 1 percent interest rates go up, our national debt goes up $130 billion a year-- $1.3 trillion over 10 years. So as we talk about all the spending cuts we want, the fact is, we end up in a position where we can't keep up with increases in the interest rate. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority time has expired. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Arizona. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. McCAIN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, how much time is remaining? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The minority has 14 minutes remaining. Mr. McCAIN. Well, I will tell you what. I will be glad to engage in a short colloquy with the Senator from Illinois, if he would like. Does the Senator from Illinois believe we are close to an agreement?”