Kevin de Leon Quotes

Arizona faces many challenges ahead. None is more important or more pressing than passing a new state budget.

We are worried about the size of the deficit, which is why the president is pleased that the House and Senate have followed his lead in cutting the deficit in half over the next five years.

All sensible politicians favor growth, just as we all favor sound public finances. Both can be achieved if we rationalize spending, invest available resources wisely, and clamp down on tax evasion.

Taxpayers need a businessman who knows how to create jobs, cut costs and balance budgets.

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.

There are only two honest ways to reduce our debt: cut spending or raise revenues.

Every year, virtually every governor balances the budget.

What's really important to me is that we have fiscally responsible balanced budgets.

Of course we have to address the deficit if we win.

Unlike the federal government, most states don't have the option of running a deficit.

All the states are required, either by constitution or by statute, to have balanced budgets - they're not able to print money. So they have to focus on establishing priorities.

I was the chairman of the House Budget Committee and one of the chief architects the last time we balanced a budget, and it was the first time we had done it since man walked on the moon. We had a $5 trillion surplus and we cut taxes.

What you really want to do is sit down and find a place that you can control government spending and raise more revenue.

I came to Congress to help reduce spending.

We can't have deficit spending in Texas. You have to balance your budget every two years.

When I became mayor of New York City, I had a $2.4 billion deficit. And everybody wanted me to raise taxes. I said, 'If I raise taxes, I'll drive people out of New York City, and then I'll be raising taxes again.' So what I did was I cut expenses by 15 percent.

There is a difficult leap between talking about balancing the budget and actually doing it.

Let us act with our eyes open. We are going to have a deficit next fiscal year and the year after that.

It is dangerous to play politics with the Budget.

The debt ceiling should never be part of the budget negotiation process.

The revenue you take in should be enough to cover the revenue that you spend and go beyond that to get a reserve. In order to do that we [in California] need cuts and pension reforms, and taxes.

I will never consent to make our penal code the basis of our Ways and Means …

I see city finances within the context of an economic strategy... We are going to solve our financial problems by growing the economy, and I have rejected some corners that have called for a slash-and-burn approach, and I've rejected others who have called for raising taxes and leaving government as is.

I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no way I would ever accept austerity.

It's no accident that Montana is the most fiscally prudent state in the nation.