Political Quotes

“as the Members of the Senate know, this week, we are expected to vote on a series of three appropriations bills--3 out of the 12 appropriations bills that passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee a couple of months ago. With just 2\1/ 2\ weeks left before the end of the fiscal year, time is of the essence. Unless Congress funds the government in the next 18 days, the government will shut down. Now, you might ask yourself, if these appropriations bills passed out of the committee with strong bipartisan votes months ago, why are we waiting until 18 days before the deadline to begin the debate and vote on these appropriations bills--and not all of the appropriations bills, just a subset of three. Well, we know shutdowns do not benefit anybody. I notice on social media there is a lot of anger out there in Washington, and people say: Yes, let's shut down the government. That is a good thing. It is too big. It is too intrusive. It is doing things I don't like. But, if you think about this for a moment, with a shutdown, servicemembers--members of our military--will have to work without pay. Veterans won't get the benefits or services that they have earned. Mortgages and other loan applications will be delayed. Passport processing will grind to a halt. Maybe there is even a risk that Medicare and Social Security payments will not be delivered on time. So shutdowns are a blunt instrument.…”