Political Quotes

“I join with my colleague from Wisconsin in thanking the gentleman from California for his generosity, but I also thank my colleague from Wisconsin for her astute assessment that causes me to pause. Her point of order is whether or not this is what we call ``an unfunded mandate,'' this bill that we will be discussing on the floor of the House. And even though the rule says that the points of order or the issues of being an unfunded mandate have been waived, please understand that that is an action that can be taken. It doesn't mean that it eliminates the truth. And I raise a question, whether this humongous bill that we are going to discuss, that does not answer the crisis of what we are facing-- which is 6 million people without unemployment insurance who will not able to pay mortgage, rent, food, to be able to have a quality of life, to create income, to create some 700,000 jobs on the unemployment end, and to pull 3.2 million people out of poverty--is now going by the wayside. And the payroll tax cut now is shackled with unwanted baggage. So I rise to argue the point of order as to unfunded mandates and argue to support the position of Mr. Levin from the Ways and Means Committee, which is to declare the unemployment issue an emergency, to do the payroll tax and a surtax on 1 percent of the American population for 10 years starting in 2013, and adopt a fix, used and paid for with Medicare savings. This is an unfunded mandate.…”