Kent Conrad

We have--one thing Senator Sessions and I absolutely agree on is the need to put in place a credible plan as soon as possible.

I do not envy the job of House and Senate members over the next few years. It is going to be very painful to be a Member of Congress because you are going to have to cut every year.

Well, that is about as clear as it can be. Lethal is pretty strong. And, frankly, I agree with it. I believe that.

I would put those four at the top of the list.

As I see it, in terms of the work of this committee, one of the most important things we can do is contribute to getting on a more sustainable course.

I think the feeling is among Governors that they have to continue to do this to make the long-run sustainability.

We will focus on challenges that are facing the U.S. economic recovery

I think it is very important time.

But it is happening. I mean, I have had people come to me who are in very large multinational accounting firms who have had clients who were doing precisely this.

We cannot let deficits act as if they are free money when we do spending increases and tax cuts.

I appreciate you being a partner in this effort to really get serious about our deficit and debt.

Mr. Buffett is often up here talking about tax reform and he has admitted that his taxes are too low.

Cash is a fact. Income is an opinion.

You make the taxpayer four times as worse off as you make the government better off.

The dirty little truth in this town is that people do not want to deal with budget process disciplines.

I begged Chairman Greenspan not to take that position because it is, yes, it is psychological, but it matters around here.

A failure to act within that period of time could lead to much more serious consequences.

We need a multi-year, comprehensive plan that reduces the debt over the next ten years by, I believe, at least $4 trillion.

Make no mistake. We are at a critical juncture.

The financial sector, without a surety that the financial sector was going to be reined in and regulated and controlled--they did not use exactly those words--financial stability would be the ruin of us all.

I hope as we approach Ronald Reagan's 100th anniversary next week we all reflect on how far from being appropriate for today's reality is that message.

We have to move toward a cash-based system.

It is horizontal inequality.

I did not support the tax deal at the end of last year. That was a big number in the wrong direction.

Our country is in serious trouble.