Gilbert Gutknecht: “I think this speaks to it all. One of our colleagues in the other body recently said, you know, some of the cynics and…”

“I think this speaks to it all. One of our colleagues in the other body recently said, you know, some of the cynics and the critics here in Washington are saying that this is a debate about how much we are going to spend on children and how much we are going to spend on education and how much we are going to spend on nutrition. It is not a debate about how much we are going to spend on children, nutrition or education. It is a debate about who is going to do the spending. So as we downsize the Government and as we allow individuals and families to make those kinds of decisions, as we give them some of their money back to spend, we know they can spend it more efficiently, that is really what this debate is about. As we move into the 21st century, we want a country that allows more personal freedom, gives more personal responsibility, but gives families more control on how they are going to spend their money. When the average family is giving over half of their annual income to government one way or another, it has gotten too big and they do not spend it more efficiently. They are more efficient at the local level than at the Federal level, but that is the debate we are having and we have to win it, not just to win, not as an accounting exercise; that is a good point. We have to win it for today's children because otherwise we are going to leave them a debt they will never be able to pay off.”