Political Quotes

“Of course we shouldn't halt the issuance of treasuries, and of course we shouldn't forswear any and all debt. The Constitution provides that the Federal Government can incur debt, and there has been a long history of incurring debt, particularly to meet extraordinary circumstances. In wartime we have had a history of incurring debt and then paying that down. What is important to emphasize is that there is a qualitative difference in what has happened in the last 4\1/2\ years. We have always had some degree of debt in this country, but one of the challenges is that at times $1 million, $1 billion, and $1 trillion can seem like the same number. They all end in ``illions,'' they all sound big, and yet the difference of $10 trillion, where the national debt was 5 years ago, and just shy of $17 trillion, where we are now, is fundamental; it is structural. Our national debt exceeds the size of our entire economy. The nations of Europe are collapsing because their elected officials were not able to be responsible. They spent money they did not have, and they built up so much debt they could not repay. Eventually, there comes a point where every decision to address the debt is an ugly one. There comes a point where the debt hole is so deep--as some of the nations in Europe are discovering--that the answers are either drastic cuts to spending or massive tax increases or massively inflating the currency.…”