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“ Democratic priorities are clear: we will fight to get the economy back on track, we will create jobs, and we will help unemployed workers. ” |
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Pelosi: 'There Really is No Limit to the Debt Republicans are Willing To Run Up'
Washington, D.C. -- House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today at a press conference on the debt limit with Congressmen Charles Rangel of New York and John Spratt of South Carolina:
“We are here today to highlight one of the many clear differences between Democrats and Republicans: Democrats believe in accountability in government. Accountability is one of the six core values in our New Partnership for America’s Future.
“Democrats believe we must return to accountability by restoring fiscal discipline and eliminating deficit spending with pay-as-you-go budgets.
“Republicans, by contrast, have turned record surpluses into record deficits. When President Bush took office, we were on a path to a $5.6 trillion surplus. We are now facing a $3 trillion deficit – a fiscal collapse of nearly $9 trillion. The deficit for this year alone is $413 billion.
“Now, Republicans want to raise the debt limit for the third time in three years. Including this year’s increase, Republicans will have raised the debt limit by more than $2 trillion since President Bush took office.
“The truth is that there really is no limit to the amount of debt Republicans are willing to run up.
“Increased deficits have real consequences for American families. The federal government is by far the largest player in the credit markets, and when federal borrowing increases there is less credit available to everyone else, causing interest rates to rise. Higher interest rates mean consumers must spend more on their mortgage, credit cards, and student loan payments. And when it becomes more expensive to borrow money, businesses are less likely to make the investments that generate jobs and opportunities.
“An issue of this magnitude demands a clean vote in the House of Representatives. Republicans have indicated that they may allow a clean vote, rather than burying it in the massive omnibus appropriations bill. They must do so.
“We must return to fiscal responsibility, because no nation has ever been strong, free, and bankrupt. Democrats want to return to pay-as-you-go budget rules in which both tax cuts and spending increases must be paid for. These rules created the surpluses of the 1990s and can work again.
“Any vote on increasing the debt limit must be accompanied by a vote on these common sense pay-as-you-go measures to control the deficit.”
“ Democrats are united in presenting a New Direction for America, one that will make our nation as strong as its people, one that brings opportunity, security, and prosperity to all Americans. ”
Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi
