Political Quotes

“I would just like to speak about what some consider boring statistics on government growth. I can add later in this 5-minute short brief, on where we are on not only overspending but over-promising. We are now doing the appropriations bills. This is my last year in Congress. In the 12 years that I have been in Congress, all spending appropriations are increasing much faster than inflation. That means government is growing faster than everybody else's financial pocketbook who are citizens in this country. Some years we have seen 3, 3½, one year almost 4 percent growth in the Federal Government faster than inflation. The percentage of our total Federal budget that goes to service the debt, pay interest on the debt, of our annual overspending is now $7 trillion. And what it costs the taxpayers of this country to pay the interest on that debt is 14 percent of our total Federal spending. 14 percent represents a little more than $300 billion a year that we are spending on interest. And so I ask, Mr. Speaker, guess what is going to happen to interest rates over the next couple of years or the next 10 years. Interest rates are going to go up.”