Deborah Koff Ross: “Just 5 years ago. Ever since I was a small child growing up in Hope, Arkansas, I heard people talk about how it was the…”

“Just 5 years ago. Ever since I was a small child growing up in Hope, Arkansas, I heard people talk about how it was the Democrats who spent all the money; yet it was President Clinton that left this Nation with a balanced budget from 1998 to 2001. Now, this administration, this Republican Congress has given us the largest budget deficit ever in our Nation's history for a 5th year in a row. It started in 2001. The deficit was $128 billion, with Social Security, and what I mean by that is they borrow money from the Social Security Trust Fund to pay for government spending that is above and beyond what tax dollars bring in. No wonder they are talking about the need to reform Social Security. No wonder they would not give me a hearing on a vote on the first bill I filed as a Member of Congress back in 2001, which was a bill to tell the politicians in Washington to keep their hands off the Social Security Trust Fund. In 2002, the deficit was $157 billion. In 2003, it went to $377 billion. In 2004, it went to $412 billion. In 2005, it went to $427 billion. That is counting the money that is borrowed from Social Security. If it was not for Social Security, those numbers would be much larger. If it was not for the money being borrowed from the Social Security Trust Fund, last year's deficit would have been $567 billion; this year's deficit, $589 billion. Now, where is this money coming from that we are borrowing? Japan, $702 billion. We have borrowed $702 billion from Japan. Mr.…”