Political Quotes

“last night, Senate Republicans voted unanimously to make a default and a shutdown far more likely and in doing so, solidified themselves as the party of default, the party that says America does not pay its debts. Now, despite yesterday's stunning display of obstruction, the fact remains that we need to raise the debt ceiling, and in a few moments, I will offer a way forward for us to avoid causing unnecessary and catastrophic default on the debt. Over the last 2 days, the Republican leader has repeatedly cited an instance in the mid-2000s during which Republicans held full control of the government and voted by themselves to increase the debt limit. Here is what he said: That is ``exactly the same situation we're in now.'' That is ``exactly the same situation we're in now.'' The Senate was able to raise the debt ceiling at that time because the then-Republican majority leader made a consent request to this body that cleared the way for the Senate to increase the debt limit by a majority threshold instead of requiring 60 votes to break a filibuster. The minority party, under this agreement, was able to vote no, which is what they claim they want to do, and the majority party was able to approve a debt limit extension and prevent a catastrophe. So we are proposing the same thing today, the same thing the leader cited and said the situation is exactly the same.…”