Political Quotes

“the Senate is not now at this moment debating directly the merits of House Joint Resolution 1, the balanced budget amendment. By reason of actions taken by the distinguished Democratic leader and the distinguished majority leader, the issue before the Senate of the United States at this moment is an amendment proposed by the majority leader to a motion proposed by the Democratic leader on the duties respectively of the President and of the Congress of the United States in reaching a balanced budget. The leader of the Democratic Party proposes to add to the Constitution a longer set of sections than the balanced budget amendment itself, a detailed set of instructions, the fundamental basis of which is that the balanced budget amendment will not even be submitted to the States until there is, in effect, a binding 7-year budget leading to a balance in the year 2002 and overriding the judgment of all Presidents and all the new Congresses which will be elected between the day on which we are engaged in this debate and the year 2002. The obvious purpose for requiring such a totally unprecedented move is to obscure the debate over general principles; that is to say, is our present fiscal system broken? Do we need to take drastic action to enforce a discipline on Congress and on the President to balance the budget? Or to the contrary, is the status quo quite satisfactory?”