Political Quotes

“our amendment is straightforward, responsible and practical. It reflects the reality of the confluence of circumstances we face--a war on terrorism and in Iraq, a struggling economy, increased homeland security needs, and increased Federal deficits, with this year's projected deficit already having increased by more than 54 percent. The amendment is a carefully calibrated, balanced approach to respond to two compelling needs--first, to provide immediate, short-term stimulus to an economy that has lost 2.3 million jobs and, second, to avoid driving up deficits over the long term which, in turn, lead to increased long-term interest rates that would stagnate our economy. Our approach is simple--we differentiate between those aspects of the growth package that truly provide quick, short-term economic stimulus and those that do not. For those that don't, let's debate them later, and if they have merit, let's pay for them as we go, not with deficit spending that threatens our economy in the future as well as our ability to address pressing national priorities such as strengthening Social Security and Medicare as baby boomers begin to retire in 2008. Mr. President, our measure provides a ``right-sized'' stimulus of $350 billion while committing $376 billion to deficit reduction. It deserves strong bipartisan support, and I hope my colleagues will vote for this amendment. I yield the floor.”