Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak on the pending legislation, which is called the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010. Sometimes it is spoken of as the tax extenders bill. But in reality it is a deficit-extending bill. The reason I say that is because the substitute amendment still adds a reported $55 billion in red ink to the deficit. More deficit spending is simply irresponsible. Our national debt, as we know, is over $13 trillion, and $2.3 trillion of that $13 trillion of debt has been added just since the time President Obama has been sworn into office. Congress is spending money in a way that would give drunken sailors a bad name--more than $30,000 per household, more than $12,000 per household from our children. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the public debt under the President's budget will be at 90 percent of our gross domestic product by the year 2020--90 percent of our gross domestic product. Greece had a debt-to-GDP ratio of 115 percent, and we are getting far too close for my comfort. Our debt represents a national security vulnerability. I am glad the substitute amendment retains my amendment, which we voted on earlier, to create greater transparency on exactly who owns our debt when we run up deficits and add to the debt, and it requires us to then periodically assess the strategic and economic risks associated with that debt. For example, the Treasury Department recently reported that China holds about $900 billion of U.S. debt.…”