Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, by recklessly slashing more than $60 billion from the budget, the Republican majority is trying to assume the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Yes, fiscal. Sometimes we in politics have problems with pronunciations, and sometimes we have problems with concepts. There are two ``fiscals.'' There is the ``fiscal'' dealing with dollars, F-I-S-C-A-L, and there is the ``physical,'' P-H-Y-S-I-C- A-L. They are trying to assume the mantle of fiscal responsibility. Within the $60 billion, there are certainly some cuts that should be made that would be cost effective, and there are other cuts that weren't made that should have been made from the Defense Department, farm subsidies and other places. Many of the programs that were cut or that were severely underfunded are programs that have a significant financial return. In fact, many of these underfunded or eliminated programs actually save the government far more money than they cost. Penny wise and pound foolish. So the Republican claims that they are saving the Federal Government more than $60 billion is simply untrue. Yes, they are eliminating $60 billion from the budget, but in reality they are increasing the deficit in other areas that do not appear in the budget--or certainly not this year. As Paul Krugman would say: Eat the future or lose the future. They're not concerned about the future. It's about today; and if it's the future, it's the 2012 election.…”