Political Quotes

“I am certainly hopeful that we will deal with the issue of spending levels by the time we bring appropriation bills to the floor. We are working on that. I will say to my friend who has just given us an exposition on his new program--and he gave the Web site address, I think--that, first of all, let me say that we welcome the interest in the Republican Party in cutting spending. Of course, spending was substantially increased when you had the Presidency and the House and the Senate, very substantially, as you know, at twice the rate it was increased during the Clinton administration. We also believe that we are sure that many citizens have some very useful suggestions. I would also urge them to make their suggestions to the commission which the President has appointed to get a handle on not 16/100 of spending but on the real dollars that confront us and which the American public are very concerned about. The commission that the President appointed is to look at how we can bring spending down, how we can address the deficit, and how we can get back to the place where we were at the end of 2000, at the end of the Clinton administration when we had a $5.6 trillion surplus. Unfortunately, that surplus was turned into this administration inheriting about a $5 trillion deficit while your party was in total control of the House, the Senate, and the administration.…”