Political Quotes

“this week, Speaker Boehner made some harsh accusations. I will not repeat them here on the Senate floor. Suffice it to say he thinks the Senate isn't moving quickly enough to avert the sequester--the across-the-board-cuts that will cost 750,000 Americans their jobs unless Congress acts and acts quickly. The Speaker's charge is really weak sauce, considering that House Republicans spent 2 months refining the art of doing nothing. The allegation is stranger still given the Speaker doesn't even have his own proposal to prevent the deep cuts that will strike within 2 days. In fact, the House Republicans' entire strategy for the Congress is to sit on the sidelines. And Republicans won't work with Democrats. The Republicans have failed to make their own proposals and refuse to compromise on a balanced plan to avoid harsh austerity measures. Democrats, on the other hand, have proposed a balanced solution to this sequester--a proposal to reduce the deficit by making smart spending cuts, closing wasteful tax loopholes, and asking multimillionaires to pay a little bit more. We will vote this week on our plan--a plan supported by three- quarters of Americans and almost 60 percent of Republicans. But once again, Republicans are too busy fighting amongst themselves to unite behind a course of action. They are, instead, doing nothing--zero. Benjamin Franklin once said: The man who achieves makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all--doing nothing.…”