Scott Garrett: “I appreciate that point. The gentleman is absolutely correct. It is not a reduction in overall spending so we can say…”

“I appreciate that point. The gentleman is absolutely correct. It is not a reduction in overall spending so we can say today we are spending a dollar and tomorrow we would be spending 99 cents. In fact, today we are spending a dollar and we may be going up to $1.05, let's bring it down to $1.04-something as far as the actual spending. So the actual spending would still be going up, but we were suggesting going up on a slightly lower curve. 2130 Democrats voting in favor of that modicum of fiscal responsibility. Well, we could get into single digits several times, with 10, 7, 11, 13, 11, 11, 11; only 11 votes out of that entire side of the aisle. I'm not sure where any of the Blue Dogs were on that one when they had the opportunity to rein in spending. You know, I think if I recall correctly, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, the reason they said that they could not be supportive of being more fiscally responsible and support any measure was that we were not being compassionate enough. But the element of compassion in Washington, DC. apparently is measured by simply how much more money you throw at the problem.”