Political Quotes

“I appreciate the kind words that my counterpart, Senator McConnell, has stated. I have gotten to know him and Speaker Boehner a lot better this past month or two, especially the Speaker. Even though I disagree vehemently with the direction the Speaker's legislation took, with no bipartisan support at all, it is not the product we have here. The product we have here is one of compromise. Without trying to outline who the winners are, there is principally one winner throughout all this, and that is the American people. We settled for less than we wanted; so did my friend, the leader of the Republicans, settle for less than he wanted. But that is the way legislation works. That is the way compromise works. But I can't let go without responding to my friend, who boasted in his own way about the new Senators and new Members of Congress who came here. I welcome them all. But a result of the tea party direction of this Congress the last few months has been very disconcerting and very unfair to the American people. It stopped us from arriving at a conclusion much earlier, and we must go forward. Also, I recognize we have to do more. Of course, we need to do more, and that is why we have the joint committee set up that I will talk about in just a minute. The American people are not impressed with the no new revenue. The vast majority of Democrats, Independents, and Republicans think this arrangement we have just done is unfair because the richest of the rich have contributed nothing.…”