Jim Matheson: “And I think that is something we should expect. I think that is a reasonable request to ask. I did want to reiterate one…”

“And I think that is something we should expect. I think that is a reasonable request to ask. I did want to reiterate one point that Mr. Ross was making when he said why this matters. He said some people say it doesn't matter. They say, ah, these deficits, it is really not that big a deal, and it is okay. We haven't seen any huge disruption in the economy with these deficits, so they don't matter. Well, the Blue Dogs think they do matter. We think they matter for a lot of reasons. First of all, they matter because right now this is one of the fastest growing parts of the Federal budget. And so what you are doing, what you are doing with the Federal budget growing so fast, in terms of the interest component, is you are saying, you know what, we are not going to do other things. So there is an opportunity cost, if you will, or lost opportunities, where we are not going to invest in important programs, investing in people, in their education, and investing in transportation infrastructure in the country. We are crowding that out because interest is growing as part of our national debt. Secondly, you are taking away capital that otherwise might be invested in the private sector. It would help our economy grow. Instead, we are taking it in to pay back government debt here. If the government wasn't asking for that debt, then investors would be investing that much more in the private sector. Our economy could very well be doing better with that increased investment in the economy.…”