So what I would like to do is get rid of the Medicaid program.

They have been very focused on the long-term issues that confront the country with the budget and the complete unsustainability of our current course.

we have got to be able to do better than this and we very much need your help and the help of your associates to point the way

the notion that we are going to go from 16 percent of GDP to 18 to 20 percent of GDP, we are on a track now by 2015 we are going to be at 20 percent of GDP

I like that idea very much.

I have had some of the most prominent economists. We have had them testify here. We had Allen Sinai sit at that desk and tell us we are headed for a country that will look like a Banana Republic if we do not deal with this long-term…

I also should advise members and their staffs that tomorrow we will have the Secretary of Treasury, Mr. Geithner, here to talk about the financial sector and to talk about housing.

I appreciate the exceptional work that Senator Wyden has done on health care reform.

CBO's estimate showed the deficit in 2009 would be approximately $1.2 trillion, and that is before any policy changes.

I believe it is absolutely essential, once we have economic recovery underway, that we pivot and take on our long-term imbalances.

If the first $350 billion had not gone out, I believe the financial system would be in collapse today.