Lee Terry: “``It is the debtor that is ruined by hard times.'' That was said by our 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes. It is a…”

“``It is the debtor that is ruined by hard times.'' That was said by our 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes. It is a timely and insightful comment. The United States now is the debtor. We are $15 trillion in debt, rising at a yearly clip of $1.5 trillion with really no institutional control to stop that. Yes, we're in hard times--9 percent-plus unemployment for 3 years straight. A report the other day said the real unemployment rate from those that have just given up is probably closer to 15 percent--16 million to 20 million Americans. Our savings, decreasing, mostly because of the dollars that are going towards buying bonds or selling bonds to China. Now, before us this week, though, is probably one of the most important votes that this Congress will take this year, and that is to pass an amendment to our Constitution forcing this body to balance its budget. Now I know it's stunning to many people that our Constitution didn't have that. There were lots of fail-safes built into our Constitution, and I think that our Founding Fathers never thought that deficit spending other than at a time of war would ever occur in our country, but it has, and it's become the norm. Why has it become the norm in Congress? Simply answered, because you can. There's nothing to stop it. The easiest way, the most political way so you never have to say ``no'' is to deficit spend. My friends, that has to end. It has to end this congressional session.…”