Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank Senator Dorgan for his comments and the frustrations we all share. He comes at it from one party's perspective, and I have my party's perspective. We can argue these issues for a lot of time. I have gotten to the point--and I think Senator McCaskill and a lot of Members of the body have as well--that we need to do something that might actually work. I say to Senator Dorgan, the reason I believe we should go forward on this amendment is because the first time we had an amendment with 56 votes and bipartisan support. Then the last time it was 59. We made some more changes to primarily assuage concerns of my Democratic colleagues that Senator McCaskill still believes could put us in a position to pass this legislation. It will make some difference. I was at a townhall meeting. The questioner criticized me for something. I said: I wrote a letter about that to the Cabinet person and complained. He sat there and looked at me. He said: You wrote a letter. Thank you a lot. I didn't have much to say. At some point we have to do something. I have made speeches. Senator Dorgan, one of the most eloquent--Members of this body, has made speeches. But we are not doing anything. Deficits are surging beyond limits. We have a possibility of passage here and that is why I think we should go forward.…”