Political Quotes

“sometimes it takes a heated exchange to reveal the truth. People say things they would not normally say, or reflect their true thinking. For instance, while debating the budget the other night, a member of the Republican leadership said, ``If you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two, you don't pay any taxes.'' Well, that would be news to that middle-class family. According to the Center of Budget and Policy Priorities, middle-class families paid an average of 13.6 percent of their income in Federal taxes in 2003. Additionally, these hardworking families pay State income taxes, property taxes, gasoline taxes, and sales taxes. If anything, middle-class families are paying too much in taxes. But the truth serum clearly did not wear off, because the next day the same member of the Republican leadership sent out a press release titled ``Fiscal Responsibility is Not an Option in This House.'' After 5 years of record budget deficits of $3 trillion in new debt, for a total of $9.6 trillion of debt, never were truer words spoken in that press release. Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the truth about the Republican Congress has finally come out. Now the American people have a choice between leadership and the Republican Party that cuts taxes on the wealthy and leaves trillions of dollars of debt for the rest of us. As Ronald Reagan once said, ``Facts are a stubborn thing.'' Mr. Speaker, it is time for a change. It is time for new priorities.…”