Deborah Koff Ross: “As we wind down this hour that we do every Tuesday night, as members of the 37-member strong fiscally conservative…”

“As we wind down this hour that we do every Tuesday night, as members of the 37-member strong fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog coalition, I would like to remind you, Madam Speaker, the reason why deficits matter, deficits reduce economic growth. They burden our children and grandchildren's liabilities. They increase our reliance on foreign lenders who now own some 46 percent of our publicly held debt. It matters because as a Nation, at a time when we are spending half a billion dollars a day simply paying interest, not principal, just interest on the national debt, we are also increasing that debt. We are increasing it to the tune of about a billion dollars a day, $260 million every day going to Iraq, $33 million every day going to Afghanistan, but do not dare ask how a single dime of your tax money, $260 million a day going to Iraq, $33 million a day going to Afghanistan, do not dare ask this administration how it is being spent. Do not dare ask them because they will say you are unpatriotic. As taxpayers, I think this administration has a duty and an obligation to let the taxpayers understand that he has, that this President has a plan on how this $260 million a day is being spent of your tax money. {time} 2350 We all want to make sure that our soldiers get the equipment they need and get taken care of and can get back home to their families as soon as possible. And the President, if he is going to spend $260 million in a day to Iraq, he ought to give us a plan.…”