Political Quotes

“Let's take another look at the definition of red herring on the chart. It says: The name of this fallacy comes from the sport of fox hunting in which a dried, smoked herring, which is red in color, is dragged across the trail of the fox to throw the hounds off the scent. Thus, a ``red herring'' argument is one which distracts the audience from the issue in question through the introduction of some irrelevancy. Our friends on the other side, using White House talking points, sophisticatedly prepared, appear to have resorted to red herrings with their deficit reduction proposals. They want the American people to think a few easy tax increases on the rich or yacht owners or corporate jet users or oil companies--the people behind the tree--can solve our debt crisis without spending reforms. They hope these red herrings will hide a serious Democratic vulnerability. If they are not going to address spending in a serious way, then massive tax increases on the middle class will be a necessity. These red herrings are designed to throw those citizens who care deeply about reducing the $13 trillion debt that the President's budget will incur off the trail. The trail of deficit reduction leads to one of two places: restraining out-of-control spending; or crushing tax relief increases on middle-class families. Restraining spending is not a red herring. It cuts to the heart of our fiscal problems. It goes to the root of the problem.…”