Political Quotes

“I say to the Senator, look where we are today in terms of the level of debt since that period of time. The Senator mentioned that he was a State senator. I, too, was a State senator in the State of Maine. We had to balance our budgets. We have had to balance our budgets in some very difficult economic times regardless of the downturn in the economy, which certainly has been the case in New England and in the State of Maine, where we have had the most difficult downturn since the Depression. They have had to balance the budget. They made tough choices. I know in the debate on the floor in the House of Representatives, the Senator will recall in the last Congress and back in 1992, Members of the House said, ``How can we possibly and accurately estimate revenue projections? How can we estimate inflation rates or interest rates or unemployment rates?'' That is going to be a very difficult and taxing responsibility. That is what every State has to do in the country, and every local government, every business, and each family does, in the final analysis. They have to make those projections and they have to correct those projections. So they have made those choices. They do not live in fiscal fantasyland like we have here in Congress. I think the American people have recognized that, and that is why they are demanding this most important and fundamental change.”