Political Quotes

“in my view, there are three Grand Canyons in America. One is famous, and it is in Arizona and, I think, familiar to most in the West. Another is well known in the eastern United States, and it is in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. The third has opened up since the last election. And here, Mr. Speaker, I am referring to the grand canyon, the gap, between the rhetoric of the Democratic Caucus in the House of Representatives, as witnessed on the floor of the House in the last Congress and in previous Congresses, and the policies of the Democratic Congress since being sworn in in this Congress. I remember, Mr. Speaker, fondly, some of the speeches that were given on the floor of Congress on behalf of the Social Security system. Some fierce, even lachrymose presentations that any additional funding for any new priority inevitably would be at the expense of the balance of the Social Security system, which is seriously in the red. In other words, new spending, because we were running a deficit, was inevitably at the expense of the Social Security system. I have heard our friends on the other side of the aisle make the case repeatedly in previous Congresses to restrict spending because additional funds would be coming out of the Social Security system. But, Mr. Speaker, since the election, Democrats seem to have muted these concerns and Democratic actions have been very different.”