Political Quotes

“I do not believe we will ever get the budget in balance without a true bipartisan effort. I thought we were headed in that direction because I have a letter here that was signed by 105 Republican Members who said that they recognized there was a need for more money for deficit reduction and they could change their tax proposal and apply it to only 85 percent of the families in this country and provide an addition $12 billion to $14 billion in deficit reduction. That represented a half step, and it is sure a lot better than the lockstep we have seen most of this session of Congress. But somewhere along the way that all changed. We are not going to have a chance to vote on that proposal of 105 Republican Members because somewhere along the way the Speaker said ``no,'' and I do not know what it is that is so persuasive about him, but sometimes I get the feeling that, when these Members are around him, they are so cowed, I can almost hear them moo.”