Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise to oppose the Tea Party Caucus' latest misguided attempt to derail Federal fiscal and economic policy. I understand the appeal of a simple, sound bite-friendly solution to all that ails us. In fact, some people think that balancing the budget is just a matter of cutting foreign aid and converting to a flat income tax. Many of our colleagues have stoked such nonsense and similar claims that are mathematically impossible. They know very well that balancing the budget through cuts alone would require eliminating every penny of discretionary spending, including the entire Department of Defense. I don't believe that's really what they want. Why, then, would they vote for this amendment? Well, there is no real risk in establishing a constitutional requirement that can't be enforced. It would likely never, ever produce a balanced budget. In fact, it would make balance harder to achieve. It does absolutely nothing to create jobs or strengthen the economy, and it would put Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid in real jeopardy. But in the short term, proponents are counting on a political payoff. They will be brandishing their ``aye'' vote as proof that they're the most fiscally responsible folks in the land. In fact, these emperors have no clothes. Many of my colleagues seem to have forgotten this, but we balanced the budget once before, not so long ago. It started with the bipartisan vote in 1990 and the subsequent vote by Democrats alone in 1993.…”