Political Quotes

“That is one part of the debate: How much economic growth is going to come out of these tax reforms that we are putting forward? We know there will be a lot; the question is, How much? But this is all based on a Congressional Budget Office estimate of growth over the next 10 years, the GDP growth, the economic growth. So we are sort of in a straitjacket. Although we believe this tax reform proposal will help in terms of that growth, we have to go by this number of 1.9 percent. So 1.9 percent is anemic growth. That is sad. If we can't do better than 1.9 percent, we have real problems in this country, and that is over the next 10 years, projected. As the Senator has said, it is kind of interesting that they are projecting 1.9 percent and others are projecting higher numbers. In the context of us having just finished a quarter that was 3.3 percent--it was adjusted yesterday to 3.3 percent--and then the quarter before, the second quarter of this year, was 3 percent. So 3 percent, 3.3 percent over the last two quarters, yet they say 1.9 percent. There is a private forecast that indicates there will be between 3 and 4 percent growth next year. The average, as Senator Thune said, even with a lot of things happening, such as a recession and hurricanes and other natural disasters, is 2.5 percent or more. So this is not normal. In other words, this is a relatively low rate. I know we can do better. I don't say, as some do, that this is somehow the new normal. We have to do better.…”