Political Quotes

“Madam President, let's not kid ourselves. We are in this financial situation and these pay-as-you-go rules are necessary because we spent the last decade spending money we did not have. We spent trillions on two wars, tax breaks for millionaires, corporations, and other red ink policies. Those days should be over. We simply can no longer afford it. The idea behind pay-as-you-go is very simple. The rule we are proposing for the government is the same one Americans use every day in their individual lives, the same ones we teach our children: In order to spend a dollar, we have to have that dollar in our wallet. This law will enforce that commonsense approach. Here is what it does not do. It does not block emergency spending. It does not keep businesses from creating jobs. And it does not prevent Congress from cutting taxes. For all the Republican rhetoric on sensible spending, their recent choices call their seriousness into serious question. We drafted a health reform bill to reduce the deficit by as much as $1.3 trillion over the next 20 years. That is a fiscally responsible plan, and zero Republicans supported it. Senators Conrad and Gregg proposed a commission with the explicit responsibility of reducing our deficit even further. That is a fiscally responsible plan. And seven Republicans--I repeat, seven Republicans-- voted no, even though they sponsored the legislation.…”