Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the distinguished ranking member on the Budget Committee for engaging in this discussion, and I am anxious to hear from our colleague from New Hampshire, Senator Ayotte. She was there this morning and was able to ask questions of the witness, the panel we had in front of the Budget Committee. I guess what struck me about listening to that discussion was just the evasiveness we had from Mr. Zients and, in fact, as the Senator from Alabama has mentioned, his failure to respond to very direct questions--not questions that are trick questions, questions that are just a matter of the facts. I think what I was struck by too is that when he was asked about whether the administration wanted Majority Leader Reid to bring the President's budget to the floor, he could not give a direct answer, and his comments indicated that they would not be calling on the majority leader to bring the President's budget before the Senate. The other thing I was struck by is that the President's own budget chief could not confirm or verify that the President has added already about $5 trillion to the debt since taking office. Those were both things that seemed like very straightforward questions and should have been very straightforward answers. The fact is it is very difficult for him or any other official in this administration to defend this budget.…”