Political Quotes

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I have consistently opposed spending outside of the budget unless it is offset by spending cuts elsewhere. It is not only an opinion I hold, it is actually the law. It is called pay as you go. We passed the law many years ago--more than a decade ago--to try to balance our books by having people come forward with things that sound good, want to spend it but not offset it by spending cuts elsewhere. There is no question that the United States has been a very good ally of Israel. Over time, probably funds exceeding $80 to $100 billion have been expended to Israel over the last four decades. Just on missile defense, the United States has given Israel $7 billion: $1.6 billion for Iron Dome, $2 billion for David's Sling, and $3.7 billion for Arrow. In fact, the NDAA that just passed this week gives them another $100 million for this. I am not disputing whether or not the extra billion dollars would help them. I will vote for the extra billion dollars, and that is what I will propose today. But it should be offset with spending cuts elsewhere. There is a $3 billion fund that is left over from money we were giving to the Afghan national government. There is no Afghan national government. There is a bunch of hoodlums, the Taliban, who have taken over. I asked Secretary Blinken: Can you assure me you are not going to give these funds to the Taliban? He says: It depends on how they behave.…”