Political Quotes

“I would like to add in our colloquy, if the Senator is aware, according to this report that just came out in September of this year: Income inequality has skyrocketed. Economists concur that income inequality has risen dramatically over the past three decades. Middle-class incomes stagnated under President Bush. During the recovery of the 1990s under President Clinton, middle- class incomes grew at a healthy pace. However, during the jobless recovery of the 2000s under President Bush, that trend reversed course. Middle-class incomes continued to fall well into the recovery, and never regained their 2001 high. The report goes on to say--which is frightening, which is why I have been raising my voice in opposition so strongly to some parts of this package-- High levels of income inequality may precipitate economic crises. In other words, if the middle class cannot see light at the end of the tunnel and if the economy itself cannot grasp a way for the middle class to grow, I say to the Senator, this recession may never end no matter how much money you give to the very wealthy. This is the reality we are facing at this moment--how to end this recession. Republicans weren't completely to blame for it, Democrats weren't completely innocent, or vice versa. It is not about who to blame, it is about how to fix it. We are about to pick up a $980 billion hammer next week in an attempt to fix it. Are we hitting the nail right? We don't have many $980 billion hammers to pick up.…”