Priti Patel Quotes

Our national leaders could learn some good habits and important lessons from city hall to take the place of the various gimmicks being used in Washington to duck federal budget responsibility.

Our system of keeping the federal government's books is a monument to the creativity of mankind ... We've cut government spending for 15 years in a row, and yet have spent more money in each of those years.

I did not come into government to win an award as the great accountant in the sky and balance budgets.

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

Remarkably, there are leaders in Washington who don't understand why it's so important for us to have a budget.

What I wanted to do was see if we couldn't balance the budget.

Just like families must live within their budgets, the Federal Government must live within its means. We have passed appropriations bills that have been fiscally responsible while recognizing our national priorities.

The financial report makes it very clear that if we got into honest budgeting today, that in fact we would find ourselves with a much larger deficit than we have today.

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 think the whole issue of a debt ceiling makes no sense to me whatsoever. Anybody who is remotely adroit at arithmetic doesn't need a debt ceiling to tell you where you are.

Restoring responsibility and accountability is essential to the economic and fiscal health of our nation.

The budget should be balanced, the treasury should be refilled, the public debt should be reduced and the arrogance of public officials should be controlled.

A budget is a moral document.

The budget doesn't have much control over the government. Then again, the government doesn't have much control over the budget.

Congress must demonstrate fiscal responsibility.

We can't let government make long-term commitments that it may not be able to keep.

I am not one of those who believe that we are bound to vote supplies to cover a deficiency in the treasury whenever called on, without investigating the causes which occasioned it.

We have been spending beyond our means, we are going to focus on the projects that we committed to in the election but importantly if there is additional projects or new things that come up they have to have a business case, they have to work and they can't impose financial stress on families and private individuals and businesses.

Reviewing a government budget is much like going through the attic in an old home.

The American people, in their own families, they understand that you have to do that. You have to make the tough decisions. You have to get your budget. You have got to put it in order. And they expect their elected officials and their leaders to do likewise.

Keeping a lid on taxes is not just good for the taxpayer. It's a powerful way to force government to be more accountable, set priorities and spend smarter. Let me repeat that: more accountable, set priorities and spend smarter - that's what we need to be about.

We're going to have to control the spending of government.

Rather than waiting to restore fiscal responsibility after we pass legislation, we must work to ensure we remain committed to it as we draft legislation.

States, virtually all of them, have a constitutional requirement to operate on a balanced budget.

If you don't get spending under control, eventually you're going to have a big tax increase.