Political Quotes

“I thank my friend from New York. Mr. Speaker, this is shameful. Shame. Shame. Shame. Who are we kidding? The Republican leadership is ignoring an 89-10 vote in the United States Senate, and they want us to believe they support the underlying bill of 12 months. That's not what they've said all year long. The Speaker, who was here just a few minutes ago, dismissed the payroll tax itself as ``a gimmick,'' and the majority leader said, ``There are better ways to grow the economy.'' Tell that to the 160 million Americans whose taxes will increase on January 1. Republicans have consistently chipped away at Medicare and managed to eliminate it completely in a voucher system with the Ryan budget earlier this year. Tell that to the 48 million seniors who are at risk if we don't take care of the doctors' bills through the SGR. And Republicans have made no secret of their desire to gut unemployment insurance despite the fact that it actually helps keep the economy moving during downtimes. More than 2.3 million Americans will lose benefits if we don't pass this bill, and millions more will have their benefits reduced. Mr. Speaker, are we to believe, all of a sudden, that the House Republicans have had some kind of a miraculous metanoia and are ready to compromise? That is laughable, and the actions of our colleagues on the other side, frankly, make Ebenezer Scrooge look like a charitable humanitarian today.”