Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I stand before you today to discuss a problem that is of concern to 300 million Americans. It relates to our national debt, a debt that will soon cross the $15 trillion threshold. We have been asked to raise the debt limit, extend the Nation's credit one more time. This we have the power to do but we have to ask ourselves the question: Should we exercise that power? Should we incur additional debt yet again without any plan moving forward to change fundamentally the way we spend money in Washington, DC? Our current law requiring us to raise the debt limit periodically every time our existing line of credit dries up dates back to 1982. We have raised the debt limit since 1982 nearly 40 times. I fear if we do it again this time without any permanent binding plan in place, legal restrictions changing the way Congress spends money, we will be right back to the same trough a few months later. That is a problem because as we do this over time we inevitably put pressure on our financial system, pressure that will soon cause our economy dire circumstances, pressure that will in time result in excessive job losses, skyrocketing interest rates, and lots of other economic conditions that would be, to say the least, unpleasant. It is for this reason that 100 Senators from around the country have canceled their plans they previously made to spend time with their constituents in their respective home States this week.…”