Gilbert Gutknecht: “I was home over the Fourth of July break. We were in about six parades, at a lot of community festivals, including Spam…”

“I was home over the Fourth of July break. We were in about six parades, at a lot of community festivals, including Spam Jam, had a wonderful time in Austin, MN, on Saturday, but in talking to a lot of folks, there is a good deal of cynicism. On one hand I think they are very happy that they think that we are getting closer to a balanced budget, but they have had their hearts broken before. I want to show this chart, and I hope people can see this, because what it shows is a history. Benjamin Franklin said, ``I know no lamp by which to see the future than that of the past.'' The track record of Washington and the track record of Congress over the last 30 or 40 years has not been very good. What this chart shows is between 1975 and 1995, the red lines show how much Congress spent for every dollar that it took in. What it really translates to on average between those years of 1975 and 1995, for every dollar that Congress took in, they spent $1.22. That is the bad news and it is the truth.”