Bill Pascrell: “Thomas Jefferson said, ``I place the economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest…”

“Thomas Jefferson said, ``I place the economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt.'' I hear the words of the Founding Fathers on the floor evoked week after week. I never hear these words from Thomas Jefferson. That is because the public debt is something we do not like to talk about. We no longer have a choice in the matter. In the minute that I will stand before Members this morning, we will accrue almost $1 million in interest to our public debt. These are wasted dollars paying interest on debt, rather than paying down the debt. Today the national debt is $6 trillion. Since January of last year, the CBO baseline's projected net interest payments over the 2002 to 2011 period have gone up by $1 trillion, from $620 billion to $1.6 trillion, roughly $10,000 per American household and $1,000 per household per year. If we make the tax cut permanent, like some have suggested, this number rises to almost $4,000 per household per year. This is insanity. Mr. Speaker, I ask that we remember the words of Thomas Jefferson.”