Political Quotes

“Last week, as I have been doing for a number of weeks, I have been speaking about our budget and the crisis that confronts us and the challenge that confronts us. Last week, former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough said this about the hard work of getting America out of debt: ``The belief of some on the right that America can balance the budget by cutting education, infrastructure, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and home heating assistance to the poor is tantamount to budgetary witchcraft.'' That was Joe Scarborough, a former conservative Republican Member of Congress from northern Florida. Last week, Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan expressed a similar thought when he said this: ``If you literally think you can just balance the budget by cutting waste, fraud, and abuse, foreign aid, and NPR, it doesn't work like that,'' said Paul Ryan, chairman of the Budget Committee. Both Congressman Scarborough and Congressman Ryan are exactly right. Last week I explained why Republicans' spending plan, even as it cripples America's competitiveness, barely makes a dent in our debt. That is because the spending targeted by Republicans, non-security discretionary spending, only amounts to 14 percent of the entire budget. Should we focus on that? Yes. Can we get to where we need to be from there? No.…”