Political Quotes

On the recordMarch 4, 2010
Mr. President, I am going to spend a few minutes talking about an amendment I have, No. 3358, which has already been pending, but I think, first, it is important for us to know that last year we borrowed $4 billion a day in this country. Mr. President, 43 cents out of every $1 the country spent at the Federal level was borrowed. What does that mean? What that means is that over the next 10 years we are going to be paying $4.5 trillion in interest on the additional $9.8 trillion we are projected to spend that we do not have. It was less than 3 weeks ago that this body passed a statute. Here is what the statute said: If you do not have the money to spend, then you have to cut something if you are going to spend new money. As of last night, in the 3 weeks since we passed that bill, this body has said: That does not count. Time out. We are going to spend $120 billion over the next 10 years, but we are not going to pay for it. That is why when that bill came through, to tell America we were going to finally get some fiscal discipline, we, as a minority, voted against it, because we knew it was not true. As a matter of fact, one of our newer Members wanted to vote for it, as I had in the past when I first got here because I believed what it meant was real. The fact is, the pay-go rules are a ruse. Pay-go means: American people, you pay, and we will go spend it.…
Said by
Tom Coburn
Republican · Oklahoma

Share & report

More from Tom Coburn

Apr 28, 2015

Jeh Johnson has proven to be a capable leader, a transparent partner with Congress, and committed to making tough decisions and improving the Department.

congress.gov
Dec 10, 2014

Mr. President, a lot has been said about Saxby already, but I have an observation I have noticed over the last 10 years since I have been here, and it is about leadership. We see elected leadership on both sides, but then we see real…

Congressional Record · 2014-12-10
Dec 11, 2014

Mr. President, as a father, grandfather, and doctor, there are few issues that are more important to me than making sure Social Security benefits are protected for both current and future generations. While both the Social Security…

Congressional Record · 2014-12-11
Dec 12, 2014

Mr. President, I first congratulate my colleague from Wisconsin. There is a lot of controversy over lands packages, and her very pleasant example is what isn't controversial. The reason we have a discussion about what is going on is the…

Congressional Record · 2014-12-12

Other voices in this conversation