Paul Ryan: “The key to this year's budget debate is not whether Congress should balance the Federal budget. Republicans and…”

“The key to this year's budget debate is not whether Congress should balance the Federal budget. Republicans and Democrats this year are agreeing that we need to balance the Federal budget. The key is about how we are going to get there. Today, as this House debates both the Democrats' and the Republicans' budget proposals for fiscal year 2008, it will become clear that this is much more than a simple discussion about numbers and how they add up over the next few years. Instead, this is going to be a bigger debate about our different governing philosophies, about what kind of society we envision, about what kind of country we want to leave to future generations. The budget that the Democrats have proposed is true to their philosophy. I give them credit for that. They believe that more government is better government and that the best way to solve the myriad problems we face in this country is to spend more and more and to tax our people more and more to pay for that spending. The Democrats' budget reflects this philosophy by calling for the largest tax increase in American history.”