Political Quotes

“This amendment would cost $200 billion in spending. Earlier this morning we voted, nearly unanimously in this body, to cut 5 percent from our legislative budget. Similar to so much in Washington, it sounds good. I voted for it. But 5 percent of our legislative budget will be a few million dollars. We have a deficit this year of $1.65 trillion. We are awash in debt. It is America's No. 1 problem. Even the administration has said our national debt is our No. 1 threat to our national security at this point. We have to get our fiscal house in order. Voting to cut our own budget by 5 percent is wonderful. It is a first step. It is about $1 million--a couple million dollars. It will not put a dent in the overall problem. If we were truly concerned as a body about our deficit, we could cut the entire budget by 5 percent. It has gone up by 25 percent in the last couple years. If we were to cut our entire budget by 5 percent, it would be about $200 billion. That is what I am proposing, a $200 billion cut in spending. Are we bold enough? Will we do it? If we do not do it, what happens? My fear is, if we do not have significant cuts in Federal spending, that ultimately in the next few years we could have a debt crisis. This amendment will give us a chance, will give the Members of this body a chance to say: Are we serious? Are we serious about addressing the debt problem or do we only want to do token things such as cutting our legislative budget 5 percent?…”