Paul Tonko: “When you talk about the $11.5 trillion deficit, when the Bush administration ended is when I arrived in Washington as a…”

“When you talk about the $11.5 trillion deficit, when the Bush administration ended is when I arrived in Washington as a freshman, several months ago now, in my first term. I distinctly recall that economists of all stripes, from far right thinking to far left, found unanimity in that they thought we needed to invest in solving this deficit situation because the time had long but passed since something like that needed to be done. The denial under the deficit growth, which became a record proportion, could have been resolved if they had changed their policies, if they had looked at the failure and tried to turn it around. So, by the time the new administration took hold in January of 2009, the requirement was there. It was basic. Every economist was suggesting and was strongly urging that it took investing. So we really had to take additional moneys that drove the deficit a little larger, but it was to stop the bleeding of the recession because the likelihood of disaster was tremendous, so there was no choice but to further invest. That deficit really drove additional investment requirements, but because of the track record we are showing this evening, it did have its corresponding results. There were lucrative dividends that came from those investments, but they were the smart investments that, yes, grew the deficit slightly, but they finally stopped the bleeding and now show the growth.”