Political Quotes

“Well, thank you for yielding. I was disappointed in today's action in the sense that I think it is dangerous to flirt with default. America ought to pay its debt, and we ought to reassure investors here at home--our local retirement funds that have bought U.S. Treasury, the Social Security trust fund, itself, that gets paid back interest, as well as other investors--that America will not default. I was disappointed this was made a partisan issue when, in fact, I think flirting with it and getting to the brink has really been damaging to our economy, and I think choosing for default was a mistake by your colleagues. I am hopeful that the Senate will take it up and that there will be a more bipartisan effort to assure that we are going to actually pay our bills and then focus on the real problem, which is dangerously high deficits, the fact that we're not acting now to save Social Security and Medicare--such critical programs. In the House, we've begun the discussions to identify what those priorities are to move us back toward a balanced budget without raising taxes on local families and businesses. We've begun the process of identifying good, positive ideas that would restore confidence in America's financial future, and we think it is important this moves along in a very deliberate, timely manner so that we don't end up with an 11th-hour issue.…”