Political Quotes

“I like to use charts because one uses a lot of adjectives and uses a lot of spin. One cannot spin charts because they just show us what the numbers are. This chart, for example, shows the deficit year by year over the years. Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter. We all remember that deficits ran up under Reagan and Bush; and we also remember that when President Clinton came in with a Democratic majority, we cast the tough votes to create a surplus for the first time in decades. We also know that during this administration, the Republican Congress, after they took over Congress, passed huge tax cuts that were vetoed time and time again. The Republicans passed the tax cuts; President Clinton vetoed them. They threatened to close down the government. He vetoed it anyway. They shut down the government. He vetoed it anyway, and we were able to have a straight line right up to surplus. Unfortunately, President Bush did not veto those irresponsible tax cuts, and we see what happened all of a sudden. If anybody asks what is the Democratic plan now, we just point to the green. When the Democrats had control of the budget with Clinton and enough Democrats in Congress to sustain his vetoes, this was the Democratic plan. This is the Republican plan. Once we run up all those deficits, we have to pay interest on the national debt.”