Ted Wheeler Quotes

We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we 'cling' to them, though not out of fear or ignorance. We believe in paying our bills. We have kept our state in the black throughout the recent unpleasantness, while cutting rather than raising taxes, by practicing an old tribal ritual - we spend less money than we take in.

As I have traveled throughout my Congressional district, the one thing I heard loud and clear was simply please stop spending money you do not have, rein in spending, live within a budget.

Leaders should not just talk about - but walk the walk of - fiscal conservatism.

For me, fiscal realism is not a betrayal of Labour values; it is the foundation by which we win the trust of the public.

I do think our challenge is to balance credibility and a clear message about how we would reduce the deficit with boldness about the choices that we put before the public.

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.

In the governments, as we've witnessed in the past, they had to hide. Because there's a lot of concentration on the friends-and-family club... We're not about that. That's not the government of the future of the State of New York. What's gonna pull this state out of the doldrums that it's in right now is an honest and open government.

Congress is not an ATM

Every public official concerned with administering public funds owes it to all our citizens to be prepared at any time to account to the last penny of the public money placed in his hands.

As governor, I cut $5 billion in spending.

We need a straitjacket around Congress when it comes to spending so that they are forced to do what 49 states are required to do and what every family business and every family is required to do, and that's live within their means.

We need to deliver efficient, transparent government.

Some states like Nebraska have thus far responsibly managed their budgets, even in tough times, and I could not ask Nebraskans to pay for poor governance elsewhere.

Government must become lean and efficient and customer friendly. It must begin to pay its bills. Liberals believe this is radical and cruel. The rest of us think it is common sense.

To cut the federal budget without cutting entitlements is like giving up chocolate-chip cookies and then deciding it's OK to eat the ones that don't have any nuts.

It is being alleged that the Federal Government is 'cutting' spending. In fact, we are not 'cutting' anything. Defense spending under this budget would rise by 4.3 percent over last year. Other discretionary spending would also rise.

The number of realists who are betting that both the 'economy gets healthy soon' and this government gets spending under control is a tiny group, indeed.

It's insane to try to balance the budget.

Even with not having a balanced budget at this time, I support tax cuts. That will help limit spending.

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

I've made a commitment that state spending in Vermont won't grow any more than the rate of inflation plus population growth.

I am a deficit hawk.

Well, I'm going to try to make a real difference in Washington's spending patterns.

Tony Blair and Gordon Brown committed to John Major's spending envelopes in 1997. No-one said that Tony Blair and John Major were identical. This happens quite often that parties actually, despite all the sound and fury, agree on the overall need to make sure that we live within our means as a country.

You can make tough decisions that I believe voters for years have asked us to do.