Political Quotes

Nick Smith: “But, see, by definition, if you were to cut out that 500, that means a balanced budget this year. That means no…”

On the recordJune 4, 1996
But, see, by definition, if you were to cut out that 500, that means a balanced budget this year. That means no overspending. And I think the pickle that we have got ourselves into by continuing to promise more and more people more and more things that we cannot afford, whether it is Social Security or whether it is Medicare or Medicaid or AFDC or anything else, we are going to have to gradually phase this down. As a conservative that thought we should balance the budget as a high priority, I thought we should do it in 5 years. The decision was: Let us get the economy going with tax breaks and do it in 7 years. So I say OK, but let us take the best, the most frugal budget that gets us closer to the balanced budget, and so far it is the Republican budget.
Said by
Nick Smith
Republican · Michigan

Editor's note · Context

Discussing the need for a balanced budget and fiscal responsibility.

Share

More from Nick Smith

Oct 5, 2004

The reason we are here is to make clear to the world that we are not going to have military conscription right now for active military duty. I introduced a bill last year, H.R. 3598, because I think we need to seriously discuss the…

govinfo.gov
Apr 21, 2004

How do we change? How do we develop the kind of discipline, intestinal fortitude to start slowing down this huge growth of government to the extent that we have decided we will simply borrow more and more money to take home to our…

govinfo.gov
Jul 20, 2004

I think it is appropriate to mention the only reason this really came to the forefront and has become an issue is because the Election Assistance Commission Chairman, DeForest Soaries, proposed a possibility of a policy for allowing the…

govinfo.gov
Jul 9, 2004

I oppose H.R. 2828, the California Water Bill because it preauthorizes wasteful projects. It forces federal taxpayers to pick up more than a $1.5 billion tab for a California-only project. It would not prevent taxpayers from getting stuck…

govinfo.gov

Other voices in this conversation