Political Quotes

“Of course, we should consider it. I say through the Chair to my friend from Illinois, we are in this predicament because the Republicans have put us here. We are spending an inordinate amount of time on seeing if they can run up a debt of approximately $1 trillion to the American people to take care of 8,100 people. That is why we are here. It is not because of the minimum wage; they hate the minimum wage. You know that, I know that. It is not because of the extenders. The extenders are good for most everybody. That is why they put it on the pension bill in conference. We are here because of the estate tax repeal. That is what this is all about. All the rest is fluff. As I say, the dominating issue of this Republican Senate has been estate tax repeal. That means more to them than spending time debating the war in Iraq. It means more to them than talking about health care. It means more to them, certainly, than talking about global warming because, according to them, it doesn't exist. It certainly has taken away time to talk about why the President vetoed stem cell. This issue relating to the estate tax has taken care of everything for them. That is their No. 1 issue. You talk about the minimum wage being our No. 1 issue. They don't have No. 2, 3, 4, 5, like we do. Estate tax is it. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.”