Political Quotes

“Absolutely. I think the Senator makes an excellent point about that because clearly what we are doing is just deferring to future generations for payment of the bills. There is no doubt about it. I think the Senator from Oklahoma recognizes, having served in the House of Representatives over the years, as well, that it is institutionally incapable of making those decisions. Ironically, the only time we had a lower deficit was back when we had the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings legislation. That was because that was a tool to force the Congress to meet certain targets. But I know that many times in which I have been engaged in deficit reduction efforts as a member of the House Budget Committee in the last Congress, and previously back in the mid-1980's, I offered specific budget cuts on the floor in conjunction with some of my colleagues so that we could reach a balanced budget statutorily. And on each and every occasion, we had people objecting to every cut. There was a reason. For one, we could not cut any program. So there are always those who have to make some tough choices. But I think the American people can do it fairly and prudently, and to prioritize and decide. What can we afford or can the American people afford? I think the American people have lost confidence in this institution, in the fact that their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely, because we have never been forced to make any choices here other than to spend and spend and tax and tax.”