Political Quotes

“I rise with a great deal of sadness. We are punting. USA Today said, ``House action on tax extenders forfeits credibility on deficits and national debt.'' They are right. The distinguished chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, who is my friend, offered a real bill on tax reform. The problem with that real bill was it had tough choices to make. Congratulations to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Camp) for having the courage to suggest those tough choices. This vote today requires absolutely no courage at all. It gives the ice cream and says forget about the spinach. It is the reason that we have trillions of dollars in debt today on our national debt, because we didn't pay for the '01 or '03 tax cuts. Now, Mr. Camp will tell me that I voted for R&D tax cuts six times that were temporary, that were annual, that were not a permanent change in the base. That is what the Republicans want to do. That is what they did in '01 and '03, and that is all inside jargon. And yes, they didn't waive statutory PAYGO, which we passed, which USA Today says was one of the reasons we got to balance 4 years in a row. That is why. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.”