Political Quotes

“Madam President, this afternoon, after a few days of great anticipation, the President laid out his version for long-term deficit reduction and dealing with our long-term debt. Now that we have heard from him, I am afraid we are left with more questions than answers. Let me be clear. I welcome the President to the debate. I think it is a positive sign. There is no more pressing issue for us to address than our dire fiscal situation and our economic challenges; both are intertwined. We are not going to be able to move the economy until we deal with our impending debt crisis, and we cannot deal with fiscal problems without growing the economy. There has been a lot of good discussion about the unique dangers we face if we don't address our massive deficits and our debt which has now accumulated to over $14 trillion. That amount, by the way, is equal to the entire size of the U.S. economy, making this the first time since World War II that we have had a debt of that level. It is also a lot different now than it was then. During World War II our debt was driven primarily by defense spending which would be quickly curtailed. We weren't looking at the incredible unfunded obligations, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security that we have today. That is an unfunded obligation of over $100 trillion. So we are in uncharted territory, unprecedented times. It is harming our economy today and, of course, it will devastate it in the future if we don't take action.…”