Political Quotes

“all of those debates seem to be about black and white, Democrat and Republican. There is a gray area called the Blue Dog Democratic Coalition budget that borrows less, cuts spending and the deficits immediately, and we do not hear much about it. We tried to get it to the floor a time or two. There are not many of us, 21 or 22 at last count. We have tried to come here and master a difficult situation and not be held hostage by it, Democrat and Republican, black, white, blah, blah, blah. People are tired of that. We have a plan, the Coalition plan, that begins deficit reduction immediately. This does not. This asks the American people to borrow more money next year and the next year and does not reduce the deficit until the year 1999 and 2000. That is not what our country is about. We are trying to get our financial house in order. The Coalition budget, as has been alluded to before, borrows $150 billion less than this bill right now we are going to vote on. It seems to me a clear choice. If we want to balance the country's books, there is a way to do it. As the Nashville Tennessean, one of my hometown papers, said some time ago, conservative economics and a compassionate government are not mutually exclusive. It can be done. Twenty-three major publications across this country have recommended this to the Congress and we cannot get it to a vote. I wish Members would consider it.”