Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss something that has been on my mind--discuss an issue that we have been talking about and we have been holding hearings in both the Budget Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, and that is the state of our economy, which I would characterize as the dire state of our economy, which I believe--I will demonstrate with some charts this evening--is due to the reckless budgetary policies of this administration. What I am talking about is today we have inflation at 8.6 percent, which is the highest level in over 40 years. We also have a GDP, or gross domestic product, the total output of our economy that is shrinking in the first quarter. It shrank 1.4 percent. We may well be on the way to a recession if the second quarter shows that it is shrinking as well. So there is no better time than right now to renew our Nation's commitment to fiscal responsibility, and to make a difference in the lives of the people that we represent. Let's talk a little bit about inflation. Food prices are up 10.1 percent. Real wages--that is the difference between inflation and the rise of wages--are down 3.4 percent as of today, meaning that the average family is facing an effective pay cut of $1,500 just this year. Everyone knows gas prices are at their highest ever with average prices in my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now exceeding $5 a gallon. Overall energy costs, home fuel oil, and others included, is up 34.6 percent.…”