Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, the baseball season begins this week, so I will quote the great Yogi Berra. ``It's deja vu all over again.'' This year's Republican budget, which Chairman Ryan unveiled yesterday, is more of the same we have, unfortunately, come to expect. It is an exercise in partisan messaging, not a serious and honest attempt to invest in our priorities and pursue compromise toward a sustainable fiscal outlook. Their budget rejects the balanced approach of spending reforms, new revenue, and investments in our economy called for by both the Bowles- Simpson and the Rivlin-Domenici Commissions, as well as by the Gang of Six in the United States Senate and by virtually every economist. The Ryan budget cuts $5 trillion without a single penny of new revenue, not even a hint of balance. Moreover, Chairman Ryan's budget once again relies on the magic asterisk of hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to important domestic programs. He doesn't say what programs we are going to cut; he simply says we are going to get the money. He said that last year, of course, and it didn't happen. He gives virtually no details about the policies through which he expects to achieve these savings. To that extent, it is radically different from the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee's tax reform plan, which made real choices, showed real courage, and was a real document.…”