Political Quotes

“I appreciate that. That was a great description by the Senator. The Senator from Ohio hit upon all the relevant issues, if we are going to get the economy going, creating jobs again--talking about getting trade deals done, and energy policy that relies upon American energy production, keeping taxes and regulations low, common sense when it comes to energy regulations, and getting spending and debt under control. Those are all part of a solution that will grow the economy. What I say to my colleague with regard to the issue of taxing and spending is that a lot of people believe somehow we can get additional revenues and raise taxes and solve these problems. Clearly, that would be very counter to growing the economy and creating jobs. I think it would be harmful, if anything. If we look at taxes as a way to deal with the deficit and debt issue, frankly, I think most Americans believe--and I believe they are right--this is overwhelmingly a spending issue. If you look at our 40-year average spending, up until 2008 it was 20.6 percent of our GDP. The budget would have to spend about 24.3 percent of GDP. If you look at what we need to focus on, I say to my colleague from Ohio, it is clearly in the area of spending and debt control and dealing with that issue as opposed to the issue of revenue. I look forward to working with him on these issues. I hope we can put policies into place that will grow the economy and get people in this country back to work. The PRESIDING OFFICER.…”