Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in about an hour we will vote on the Republicans' so-called cap, cut, and balance legislation. As I have said before--in fact, just a few minutes ago--this is one of the worst pieces of legislation to ever be placed on the floor of the U.S. Senate. It violates the spirit of our Constitution and certainly what we are trying to accomplish here in Washington, and we as a Senate refuse to waste even one more day on this piece of legislation. We have 11 days left until the United States simply stops paying its bills, and, frankly, we have wasted too much time already. The U.S. House of Representatives needs to know this legislation has expired. It is gone. Republicans wanted a vote on their radical plan to kill Medicare and Social Security before they would consider helping Democrats avert this crisis. In an hour, they will get that chance. At least one of the Republican Senators went over to a large gathering in the House of Representatives, I am told, and said: We are going to get at least 60 votes. Please, Mr. President. Their extreme plan would, within 25 years, cut in half every Federal benefit on the books, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, military pay, veterans' benefits, and much more.…”