On the recordJuly 7, 2011
Congress has a responsibility to level with the American people. We face a looming decision about extending the debt limit, not because we want to but because we have to reaffirm the obligation we have to pay our bills. The majority of us on the Democratic side voted to do that. That was not to incur new spending or new obligations; it was to meet obligations already incurred: $2.3 trillion for the Bush tax cuts; an Iraq war, $1 trillion on the credit card; Afghanistan on the credit card. If we're going to level with the American people, we have to acknowledge that we have to pay for things, whatever their intentions. The time is long overdue for us to accomplish this. If we're going to be successful on the two things we must do--pay our bills, maintain our full faith and credit, and have a long-term fiscal plan--then everything must be on the table, and that has to include taxes as well as spending, and it must include the Pentagon. Mr. Speaker, this is not an ideological battle to win. It's a practical problem to be solved. ____________________
