Rob Portman: “I find it interesting to come to the floor tonight and hear from my friends on the other side of the aisle that we need…”

“I find it interesting to come to the floor tonight and hear from my friends on the other side of the aisle that we need to have less spending and more fiscal discipline. Having been on the Committee on the Budget and gone through the process of a markup where we heard again and again how we were not spending enough on education, we were not spending enough on the environment, we were not spending enough on health care, we were not spending enough on labor issues, we were not spending enough. And amendments were offered and amendments were voted down that would spend more and more and more. And, yes, the Democrats offered an alternative, and I applaud them for that, on the floor of the House, although we did not have one in committee. And it offered more spending, and that is fine, that is fine. But then to come to the floor and say somehow this budget has too much spending in it just does not make too much sense. The Democrat alternative also offered higher taxes and increasing taxes, and we disagree with that. We think this economy has finally turned.”