Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Murray for yielding, and I want to thank her and her staff for the excellent work they have done. As a member of the Budget Committee, I have enjoyed working with them. Everybody knows our country has an $850 billion deficit and a $16- plus trillion national debt. But what has not been discussed as often as it should be is how we came into that financial position. How do we have the deficit and how do we have this huge debt? Let us not forget, as we discuss this issue, that in January of 2001, when President Bill Clinton left office, this country had an annual Federal budget surplus of $236 billion. A surplus of $236 billion in January 2001. We now have an $850 billion deficit. So what happened? Well, I think many Americans know what happened. When you go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq and you don't pay for those wars, you add to the deficit. When you give huge tax breaks to the wealthiest people in this country and you don't offset that, you add to the deficit. When you pass a Medicare Part D prescription drug program and you don't pay for that, you add to the deficit. And on top of all of that, we must understand that right now, at 15.8 percent of GDP, revenue coming into the Federal Government is the lowest it has been in 60 years. The reason for that is we are in the midst of a very serious recession--a recession caused by the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street.…”