Barack Obama Quotes

The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations.

A budget is a moral document of a nation’s priorities.

Priorities are reflected in the things we spend money on... A nation's budget is full of moral implications; it tells what a society cares about and what it does not care about; it tells what it's values are.

Government can’t deliver a free lunch to the country as a whole. It can, however, determine who pays for lunch.

Politics is economics in action.

Look, I don't dispute that the deficit has increased.

It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.

Every family in America knows they have to do a budget. Every small business in America knows they have to do a budget. Every local government, every state, knows they have to do a budget.

Putting together a sustainable budget requires that we all work together, that we focus our scarce resources on key priorities, and that we strengthen our capacity to deliver the best product we can for the American people. And that takes money.

Budgets are nothing if not statements of priorities.

You never have to change a book for budget.

My buildings are all on budget.

I think what's been lacking from our discussion for a long time is really that other part of what a Budget chair does, which is set the priorities for this country in terms of making sure we invest in the right places, in education, in job training, and to make sure we do a balanced approach moving forward.

The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to economize.

It is not for the State Department or even the Secretary of State to say when and how the resources of the American people will be spent.

It is vital that we get these policies right as we take forward our plans to drive down the deficit and transform our economy.

We can tell our values by looking at our checkbook stubs.

When efforts are made to shape policy based on budgets rather than the public good, then the needs of the people will not be met.

Education policy ... has not been driven by sound educational considerations. It has been driven by the budget process.

The essence of government is making necessary choices between competing uses of public resources.

Budget drives everything that we do.

Budgets are moral documents. When you put your budget on the table, we see what you really are.

It is impossible to foresee or define the extent and variety of national exigencies, or the correspondent extent and variety of the means which may be necessary to satisfy them.

Balanced budgets have a lot to do with National Defense.

Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget.