Political Quotes

“this morning I heard the distinguished majority leader say it was a time for bipartisan solutions. He said: ``What America needs right now is a season of serious bipartisan solutions.'' Democrats couldn't agree more. We have been asking for weeks for all parties to sit down and start talking about the budget--not at the eleventh hour, not when we are already at the edge of a cliff, but now. From a substantive perspective, this only makes sense. Both parties hate the sequester. Both parties understand there is a smarter way to budget than senselessly acting as though we are hostage to these arbitrary, meat-cleaver cuts that were never intended to go into effect, whether on the defense side or on the nondefense side. So, Mr. Majority Leader, let's sit down and start talking about some serious bipartisan solutions. The majority leader makes it seem as though he has been negotiating and being fair. Every number in the Appropriations Committee had no consultation from the Democrats. They just chose the numbers. That is not bipartisan. They did not talk to the White House, which has veto power over every one of these. That is not bipartisan. We all know that the only way we are going to get something done on the budget, on the spending bills is by sitting down together and talking. Why not sooner rather than later? Why not now rather than at the last minute? There is a charade going on by my friends on the other side.…”