When you're talking about long-term deficit reduction, $4 trillion worth, entitlement reform needs to be part of it.
We have to change economic policy: create confidence, foster investment, cut the public deficit, restructure taxation and reform the labor laws.
We wanted to be certain they didn't have a bigger deficit, and Kennedy agreed with me.
The United States as usual has a sizable deficit in the current account of its balance of payments, trade account and other current accounts, current account items.
With a strong domestic economy, low national unemployment at 5 percent, and increasing retail sales, the picture should look rosy. But one look at the trade deficit changes all of that.
Which European leader today would not relish the wonder-working powers of a Moses? Budget deficit? Unpopular cuts? How about just a little miracle, an overnight increase in gold reserves, a new oil field, or the next world-changing communications technology? Surely that's not too much to ask.
We're going to need to absorb some pain. The Republicans want to pile all the pain on people who can least afford it and the middle class and Democrats under his leadership want to make sure that we can address deficit reduction and continue to make investments and shared sacrifice is going to be imperative in order to be able to do that.
Honest talk about the deficit is risky. Voters are more enthusiastic about the abstract notion of deficit reduction than about the painful details of accomplishing it.
You care about the deficit because it allows you to do things you need to do to help people who are suffering.
Cutting the deficit by gutting our investments in innovation and education is like lightening an overloaded airplane by removing its engine. It may make you feel like you're flying high at first, but it won't take long before you feel the impact.
What is the biggest public forum in the United States? We were told it's the Super Bowl. The ad shows kids working at blue-collar jobs, and the final statement is just written text: Who's going to pay for the trillion dollar deficit?
Well, a deficit reflects an imbalance between spending and revenue, and so narrowing it requires acting on one, the other or both.
The more competitive value of the dollar turned around the trade deficit.
As a matter of fact, if you do not take into account, as Congressman Ross just stated, the Social Security surplus, our fiscal deficit, ladies and gentlemen, is over $700 billion today.
America's largest trade deficit is with China, a nation that enjoys Permanent Normal Trade Relations with the U.S. and ties its currency to the dollar to make it a more competitive trading partner.
The debt and the deficit is just getting out of control, and the administration is still pumping through billions upon trillions of new spending. That does not grow the economy.
To be fair, Republicans are not blameless. The deficit began to spiral out of control on President Bush's watch.
According to the White House, the president's proposed 2016-2017 spending would add - get this - $62 billion to the deficit.
While there are no easy solutions to this problem, the Deficit Reduction Act gets us started in the right direction by beginning with the most obvious, commonsense reforms to save taxpayer dollars.
We have to honor our commitments to today's beneficiaries, but we can't solve the growing deficit and debt problems unless we are smart, courageous, and sensible in planning for future.
We've used up a lot of bullets. And we talk about stimulus. But the truth is, we're running a federal deficit that's 9 percent of GDP. That is stimulative as all get out. It's more stimulative than any policy we've followed since World War II.
I voted for the Deficit Reduction Package with significant heartburn over the student aid provisions.
I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.
My hope is that we're going to be more strategic and focused as we look for a way to address the long-term deficit and debt issues that are affecting this nation.
For the first time in 15 years, Georgia this winter has its electric power guaranteed without deficit. This is a historic achievement.
The best way to deal with the deficit is through economic growth.
It's critical to show that we can meet our commitment to students with disabilities without raising taxes and without increasing the deficit. In the past, there's been strong support for full funding and I'm still hearing that from many of my colleagues.
I think growing an economy is a good way to help with a deficit, but ultimately, it's about fiscal discipline and responsible spending - and smart decisions.
I believe that we should allow younger workers to contribute toward a personal account that they own, as long as it is coupled with deficit reduction measures that enhance the long-term condition of Social Security.
At his best, Obama promised to work with Republicans to reduce the deficit in a way that honors both individualism and community.
I am fairly certain that our budget deficit was not caused by children with autism or 90-year-old grannies in nursing homes, so why take it out on them by cutting services?
I ask the American people not to fall victim to disinformation. There are no death panels. The Affordable Care Act cuts the deficit.
The Farm Bill is one of the only bills that provides substantial deficit reduction that passed the Senate this year. It only makes sense that this deficit reduction bill would be included in a larger deficit reduction agreement.
I don't want to remember 2005 as a year that the government heaped unnecessary burdens upon American families. Stealing from the poor and middle class and giving to the rich, while increasing the deficit, is hardly responsible.
Well you know I'm very supportive of what the Tea Party is trying to do. They're very concerned with spending, the deficit, the bailouts, you know all of those kinds of things. But I really think that the strength of the Tea Party is being a grassroots movement.
What we do want to see is reforms that are going to have a permanent effect on the budget deficit.
