On the recordFebruary 3, 2010
Well, if the gentleman would yield, I think the most important point here--and we shouldn't spend, obviously, a lot of time on the blame game. The American people want solutions. But what we typically hear from our friends on the other side who aren't offering a solution to the fiscal crisis is that it's your fault. Here's what I would say. I'm sorry that Republicans spent as much as they did, but our average deficit when we controlled spending was $104 billion. We've now had 3 years for Democrats to control spending, and the average deficit is $1.1 trillion. And so, what I would tell the gentleman and the American people is that what was an annual deficit under Republicans has turned into a monthly deficit under Democrats. And again, I'm not proud of the spending. Many of us on this floor fought our own party leaders for more fiscal restraint. But as far as an order of magnitude, I mean, you can't even compare the two. When it comes to spending and deficits, Republicans are rank amateurs compared to Democrats.
