Political Quotes

“The nation's financial future should be serious business. Unfortunately, House Republicans are not treating it that way. It's bad enough that too many of them are willing to court financial disaster by hijacking the process of raising the debt ceiling. Today's vote is perhaps the clearest illustration of their cavalier approach. The vote on the so-called Cut, Cap, and Balance bill comes without legislative work in any substantive committee. As a member of both the Budget and Ways and Means Committees, I would have welcomed hearings and work sessions which would have shown this bill to be a travesty. Not a single president in 50 years proposed any budget that would have met their requirements that spending be limited to 18 percent of GDP. Ronald Reagan never proposed a budget under 21 percent. House Republicans would mandate a balanced budget every year, whether we were at war or dealing with the fallout of a tragic natural disaster or an economic meltdown. Cuts to Medicare, the social safety net and student loans would still be possible with a single majority vote, and yet eliminating tax breaks for the favored and the wealthiest individuals or corporations would require a two-thirds supermajority. Since House Republicans want to continue to protect some areas of spending and give more tax breaks to people who don't need them, this means even more draconian cuts to the programs that people depend on the most.…”