Political Quotes

“Madam President, we are hearing a lot of discussion here in Washington and around the country this week about the so-called sequester, which I think bears some explanation. Oftentimes we talk in terms and in such a way that I think ordinary Americans have a hard time understanding the arcane world and arcane lexicon we have here in Washington, DC. Basically we are talking about these spending cuts-- across-the-board cuts--that will take effect at the end of this week. It was a process that was put in place many months ago. In fact, if we go back to the Budget Control Act, which passed in August of 2011, we won't find very many people now who will claim paternity of that idea. In fact, there is a big debate and a lot of finger pointing about whose idea this was and whose fault it was that we are where we are. I would simply point out that I think there are a lot of Republicans and Democrats who voted for the Budget Control Act, so clearly many of us voted in support of that as a last resort. Many of us didn't want that to happen. We wanted to see a deal worked out where we would actually address the major problems facing this country with regard to our spending and debt.…”