Jay Rockefeller: “I am sure I don't need to remind my colleagues about our Nation's fiscal situation. But let's review the facts anyway.…”

“I am sure I don't need to remind my colleagues about our Nation's fiscal situation. But let's review the facts anyway. This morning the Treasury Department announced that the government racked up a record high monthly budget deficit of $220.9 billion last month. We now have a deficit of over $1.4 trillion and a debt of over $12.5 trillion. I recently have seen a bumper sticker in Arizona that says: Please don't tell the President what comes after a trillion. Unemployment remains close to 10 percent. According to Forbes.com, a record 2.8 million American households were threatened with foreclosure last year. That number is expected to rise to well over 3 million homes this year. Even with all of this, we continue to spend and spend and spend. Every time we pass an appropriations bill with increased spending loaded up with earmarks, we are robbing future generations of their ability to obtain the American dream. I believe that is immoral.”