Paul Begala actually said...

"If all of the $8 billion, $8 billion of earmarks in this bill, if they're eliminated, instead of a deficit of $1.3 trillion, we'll have a deficit of $1.292 trillion and at that pace, we will pay off t..."

"Yes. I think any congressionally-directed spending is an earmark. Now I don't think all earmarks are bad at all, as long as they're transparent, disclosed, subject to debate."

"But when the Republicans had the House, the Senate and the White House they destroyed all of our fiscal discipline."

"The Democratic Party is the party that balanced the budget the last time it was balanced. The Republicans haven't balanced the budget in over 60 years."