Political Quotes

“Madam President, I am on the floor to speak again in support of amendment No. 115, which I propose in connection with the patent reform bill, a bill I support and a bill I intend to vote for and a bill that is going to be used as a vehicle for this amendment that calls for the sense of the Senate on support for the need of a balanced budget amendment. I am grateful to have the support of my good friend, the former Governor of West Virginia, now the junior Senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, who is cosponsoring this amendment with me. Here is what it does. It calls on us as Senators to come forward and vote on whether we think we should amend the Constitution and submit that to the States for ratification to restrict our power to engage in perpetual deficit spending. We, as Members of Congress, are authorized, pursuant to article I, section 8, clause 2 to incur debt in the name of the United States. This power has been abused over time to such a degree that we are now almost $15 trillion in debt. By the end of the decade, we will have amassed annual interest payments that will be approaching $1 trillion. This threatens every government program under the Sun.…”