Marshall Sanford: “This is a very simple and straightforward amendment, as has been laid out, which is to, in essence, make an…”

“This is a very simple and straightforward amendment, as has been laid out, which is to, in essence, make an across-the-board cut of this particular appropriation by 2.48 percent. I think it is important to do so simply for this reason. I was in a Budget hearing this morning, and the new Director of the Congressional Budget Office came by. In his testimony, what he talked about was the way in which the American civilization and the Federal budget was nearing a tipping point beyond which there would be substantial consequence to that which we can budget here at the Federal level; to the value of the dollar; to future interest rates; and, ultimately, to the American way of life. {time} 1615 I think what is interesting is that, indeed, Admiral Mike Mullen, a military man, observed the same, because when he was asked what is the biggest threat to the American way of life and to American security, his answer was the American debt. You can look at a long list of different authors who have talked about this theme in different ways. You know, Reinhart and Rogoff talked about it in their book entitled, ``This Time is Different,'' wherein, again, you look at economies that get to around 90 percent debt to GDP and, frankly, the wheels start to come off. Bad things begin to happen both to the economy and to the government's ability to perpetuate funding for programs that are important.…”