Political Quotes

“I yield myself 2 minutes. I do appreciate the back-and-forth discussion here, but I want to put this in perspective, if I could, because our friends with the Republican budget have assumed, for instance, that we don't necessarily have to raise taxes. We could actually cut some of the loopholes that we have offered repeatedly; and although that is referred to rhetorically, they have never been able to follow through with any that they would cut. There are Medicaid cuts. And make no mistake about it, these Medicaid cuts are actually reductions in nursing home care for America's most vulnerable. That is two-thirds of this money that it is going to be visited back on the States and impacting families. They repeal the Affordable Care Act, but they keep all the associated revenues. We went through a campaign season excoriating Democrats for the reductions in Medicare Advantage, and they keep that in their budget. There is the magic of dynamic scoring, which we have heard about repeatedly for years, which never really quite proves itself. And then we have cuts to Pell grants. We heard described in committee that these cuts to Pell grants are not a problem because they are just an excuse to raise tuition and enrich lavish academic salaries. Mr. Chairman, this Republican budget would not only freeze us into a downward decline in our infrastructure, it would be the lowest level of nonmilitary discretionary spending that we have seen in generations.…”