Jim Inhofe: “I have felt that unfunded mandates are the product of an assertive, greedy Government that has arrogantly injected…”

“I have felt that unfunded mandates are the product of an assertive, greedy Government that has arrogantly injected itself into the dictatorial position that was feared most by our Founding Fathers. And, you know, we deal with these subjects as if they are contemporary subjects, Mr. President, and they are not. Because in all of these subjects that we have been discussing that might be associated with the Contract With America, but certainly those things that 70 to 80 percent of the Americans want, our Founding Fathers dealt with these issues. They dealt with term limitations. It was their intent to have a citizens legislature for people to have to live under the laws that we passed. And, of course, we discussed that under the accountability bill, and such things as the budget balancing amendment. It was Thomas Jefferson who came back and said: If I could have made one improvement in the Constitution, it would have been to severely limit the abilities of our Government to incur debt.”