Political Quotes

“Mr. President, just a few moments ago we cast several votes in regard to the so-called payroll tax holiday. I opposed both the Republican amendment and the Democratic amendment. There were significant differences between these two versions of this legislation; in part, the differences at least included the way that the provisions were paid for. While I may support the pay-fors, I objected to what the pay-fors are paying for. I support freezing the pay of Members of Congress, the elimination of certain benefits to millionaires, and reducing the Federal workforce. But wouldn't we be better using the proceeds of these reductions in spending to reduce the debt and deficit rather than a short-term change that reduces the revenues going to the Social Security and Medicare trust funds? When are we going to admit we are broke? I am reminded of a plan approved by Congress just several years ago where we borrowed money to give citizens a $600 rebate, all in the name of a stimulus. We wanted to stimulate the economy and, in my view, what we did was we stimulated little and increased the debt a lot. Many of us have expressed support for the concepts contained in the Bowles-Simpson deficit reduction plan. Their recommendations are very important and we have paid a lot of attention to them and expressed our desire to proceed in that way. Many times we have said that.…”