Political Quotes

“Abraham Lincoln began his famous ``house divided'' speech with simple, homespun advice that we should first ``know where we are and whither we are tending,'' before we ``judge what to do and how to do it.'' We are embarked on a journey of great consequence regarding what to do about our Nation's budget and how to do it. This is a vital conversation. We simply must reduce our annual Federal deficits and our Nation's debt. But it would seem wise at this important time to take President Lincoln's advice and examine where we are and whither we are tending as we go about making these decisions. I will touch on a few factual landmarks that may help orient us to where we are and help us learn whither we are tending. The first and most obvious is that we just weathered the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Few of us who were here then--I know the Presiding Officer was--will ever forget the animal fear and desperate urgency displayed by Treasury Secretary Paulsen and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke as they, having looked into that abyss, came to this building, to the LBJ room, and pleaded for our help to save the world economy. We are now past the worst depths of the financial and economic crises. As this chart shows, the economic recovery measured in jobs is proceeding, though all too tentatively and all too slowly. In Rhode Island, we are still at 12 percent unemployment in the Providence metropolitan area and over 11 percent statewide.…”