Richard K. Armey: “I guess this is the point in time where we might rely on that old homily: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. For…”

“I guess this is the point in time where we might rely on that old homily: the proof of the pudding is in the eating. For 40 years, throughout all of my adult lifetime, the Democrats controlled this Chamber. During all those 40 years, the growth of government spending seemed to be without limit. Their hunger for new spending programs, one risky spending scheme after another, knew no bounds; and, as they continued spending, spending, spending, and reached the limits of the government's revenue, they spent the Social Security surplus, they spent the Medicare surplus, and then they went into debt to the tune of $250, $260, $270 billion a year. They knew no limit. In 1994 the public got fed up with it. They turned to the Republicans on our promise that if we were given the majority, we will try to balance the budget. We intended to balance the budget. The voices from the left said it could not be done, it cannot be done. It might have been done if they had ever tried, but they never paid any attention to it. Well, we not only tried, we did it. Not only did we balance the budget, but we now have an operating surplus of $268 billion. We have here a proposition that says 90 percent of that surplus, 90 percent of it should be dedicated to debt, to buy down of the publicly held debt.”