Political Quotes

“Well, I thank Senator McCain. My first view is it is better not to go over the cliff than to go over the cliff. But it is also important, as my colleague just said, to understand what we have accomplished. Let's assume for a moment--let's hope this is a good assumption--that we are reaching an agreement by the end of the day that raises tax rates on people who make over $400,000. I don't think that is a good idea because I think it hurts job creation. The better way to get revenue is to eliminate deductions and exemptions for businesses and wealthy individuals and take that money back into the treasury, lower tax rates to create jobs and pay down some debt. That is what Bowles- Simpson did. Not one bipartisan group, I say to the Senator, that has tried to solve our debt problem and our spending problem and our revenue problem has suggested raising tax rates. Bowles-Simpson, a bipartisan group, actually lowered tax rates, and they did that by eliminating deductions and exemptions, and they put a lot of money on the debt. They had a 25- percent corporate rate, and the top personal rate was 30 percent. They took this $1.2 trillion we give out every year in exemptions and deductions to the favored few and brought it back into the treasury. They paid down the debt and they lowered tax rates to help create jobs. This President's approach is the opposite of Simpson-Bowles and the Gang of 6. We had six Senators, three Democrats and three Republicans.…”