Deborah Koff Ross: “this afternoon, I rise on behalf of the 44-member-strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, as we…”

“this afternoon, I rise on behalf of the 44-member-strong, fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition, as we demand from this Government fiscal accountability as well as fiscal responsibility. Mr. Speaker, as you walk the halls of Congress, it is easy to know when you are walking by the door of a fellow fiscally conservative Democratic Blue Dog Coalition member, because you will see this poster as a welcome mat to his or her office to remind Members of Congress, to remind you, Mr. Speaker, to remind me, and to remind the American people and all of those who walk the halls of Congress, that the U.S. national debt today is $8,696,414,214,377.65. For every man, woman and child in America, their share, our share, my share of the national debt is $28,900.92. That is a big number. A lot of people think, well, it really does not matter what the debt is, our Government can simply print more money. I wish it was that simple. Our Nation today is spending the first half a billion dollars it collects in taxes not to improve veterans' health care, to protect our troops, to build roads, to fund health care, to protect Social Security and Medicare, to ensure the 47 million folks without health insurance have access to it. No. The first half a billion dollars that we collect every day in taxes from the hard-working people in this country go to simply pay interest, not principal but interest, on this number, the national debt.”