Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. I think one of the things we're forgetting is that during that spectacle last August, the United States lost its triple A credit rating, and it was a simple majority. I just think you cannot make a serious case that it is fiscally responsible to increase the likelihood that we would go through that spectacle again. The other is we talk about a simple majority for a balanced budget or a supermajority for an unbalanced budget. We forget that a serious deficit reduction is technically unbalanced and you need three-fifths to pass a deficit reduction plan. And if you have a question of three- fifths to pass a serious deficit reduction or new tax cuts and new spending totally irresponsible; and if we know we need three-fifths this year to pass a budget, deficit reduction, as you get closer and closer, how are you going to get those extra votes? Now, the tradition has been you get those extra votes with a little pork here, a little pork there; and rather than buying enough pork to get to a simple majority, you're going to have to give away enough to get to a 60 percent. And so the question is whether the three-fifths vote will make it more likely that you're going to have a serious deficit reduction or a totally irresponsible budget. In my view, I think the experience is it's hard enough to get a simple majority to pass meaningful deficit reduction. You will never get to three-fifths, so you get your new tax cuts. You get your new spending.…”