Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman. I didn't get an answer to my question, however. He's gotten an answer to his ``solve the problem'' issue. And what he means by solving the problem is we have to deal with the sustainability of entitlement programs. I've adopted that premise myself in speeches that I've given on numerous occasions on this floor and in other fora around the country. What I'm asking him is, does he also agree--that proposition was adopted by all three of the fora that we have discussed--does he also agree, as Mr. Bernanke points out, that revenues, or taxes, however you want to call it, resources to pay for what we believe are priorities-- for instance, the gentleman correctly believes we need to invest in our national security. I feel very strongly about that. For 30 years I have voted on behalf of the national security of this Nation--to pay for it and to pursue weapons systems, personnel levels, strategies to assure our national security. So I have no qualms with saying that is a priority. If it is a priority, if it is important, it is important to pay for it. Paying for it is through revenues. If we don't pay for it, if we borrow--we're going to borrow over a trillion dollars to protect our country in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places around the world, but particularly those two. That's important. That's important to do. He and I agree.…”