Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I think it has become very clear that our Democratic colleagues want to raise taxes. They use the phrase revenues--revenues--and we need a shared sacrifice. That means people need to pay more taxes, as if that doesn't have an impact on the economy. We have had a recent study by one of the international groups which found the United States has the most progressive tax system in the world--among the developed nations. This is all the European nations. The wealthy pay more in the United States than in those countries, according to an independent, international study. We have heard the numbers. A substantial percentage of the income taxes are paid by the top 10 percent in America. How much more do you do this? I thought we had an agreement last December with the President in which we agreed that raising taxes at a time of economic danger is not the right thing to do. Not doing something to fix this debt limit now is not a good thing. We need to raise the debt limit. I don't know what would happen if we don't. I don't think it would be good. I think we run a risk. But the real danger we have is not the debt limit; the real danger we have is the extraordinary surging debt this Nation has, which is unlike anything we have ever had before. It is systemic. It is part of the structure of the American economy right now that we are spending 42 percent more than we take in. We cannot keep doing that. The projections for the future are not better.…”