Political Quotes

“Many people have said that 9/11 changed everything for this country. It certainly did for President Bush and his budget. He is now urging this Congress to increase the size of Federal spending by 22 percent for this coming year, over what it was in 1999. This is the largest increase in Federal spending over that period of time than any comparable time since another Texan named Lyndon Johnson was President. Somehow 9/11 has changed nothing in what is always the predominant theme of the House Republican leadership and their agenda: convincing voters that they can have something for nothing. They are out to convince folks that every year they can pay less and less. Even if we have new, essential security requirements and other government needs, they will just continue to 'borrow and spend'--their traditional policy. The Republicans that were once known as the 'party of fiscal responsibility' are now known as the 'party of shifting responsibility', letting tomorrow's children pay for today's needs. It was not long ago that the Republicans were bringing the debt clock out here to the House floor to show us the impact of the national debt. It kept going up. It reminded me of that old ad about a watch: 'It takes a licking and it keeps on ticking.' Well, it is ticking now as a result of the licking that it is taking with this economy and with the increased spending being proposed.”