Political Quotes

“I sympathize with what the gentleman is saying. I agree with him. It is a huge problem, and it is a math problem. He mentioned something that is really important. We used to spend about 70 percent of the budget on discretionary spending--that is the money we appropriate through these appropriations bills--and about 30 percent was spent on mandatory spending. That has been reversed, where it is about 70 percent mandatory spending today and only 30 percent in discretionary spending. Consequently, we have to address mandatory spending. That is difficult to do because anytime you say we have to reform Social Security if we are going to save it, all of a sudden, the commercials are going: Oh, they are going to take away your Social Security. It is a political football that Republicans and Democrats have to get together and address. That is why the Speaker has said we are going to create a debt commission to look at how we can reduce this debt that we are facing. I agree with the gentleman. It is horrible what is going on. As I said earlier, the debate is not really whether to cut spending, it is how much and how fast. I guess the gentleman said it best when he called it a small nuclear weapon in this, but I agree with what he is saying in general. It is how we go about it that is the challenge. Mr. Chair, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time. The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Arizona (Mr.…”