Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, there is no question this isn't a perfect bill. There's a lot of things that I would have liked and I know that other Members on my side of the aisle would have liked. We would have liked deeper spending cuts. We would have certainly liked some entitlement reform in this. We would have preferred to mandate that this House and the other body take up a balanced budget amendment and give the people in the States an opportunity to render a decision on that. Those things aren't in this bill. I know there's things that some of my friends on the other side wanted: higher taxes, no changes in entitlements. They didn't get everything they wanted either. But this bill does adhere to the principles our Speaker laid out at the very beginning of the negotiations. First, most importantly, and both sides agree on this, it avoids default. It avoids the United States not paying its obligations for the first time in 235 years. I am glad both sides cooperated and got that done. Secondly, it actually cuts spending and links those spending cuts to the raising of the debt ceiling. There's more spending cuts than there is increased borrowing going forward. That's a good thing. Third, no new taxes, something that would be a killer on the new economy. And, finally, while we don't get a guarantee of a balanced budget amendment, we do get a guaranteed vote.…”