Richard Shelby Quotes

In the 1970s, New York City avoided bankruptcy because wise political leaders like Gov. Hugh L. Carey believed both in strong labor unions and robust banks and companies.

So I come before you with a budget that is honest in its discussion of our challenges, creative in its possible solutions, compassionate in its commitment to our most vulnerable, and balanced on the bottom line.

If we are to maintain our position as a global economic leader, we've got to end the govern-by-crisis mentality that sets us back instead of moving us forward.

When Bill Clinton was in town, he sent over a balanced budget.

In the case of the Democrats' 2009 budget request, the statement of need could not have been articulated any clearer: We need more spending, historic new tax hikes, and greater control over the way American families live their lives.

No one, no social group, can today avoid the commitment to contribute to the clean up of public finances in order to prevent the financial collapse of Italy. The sacrifices will not be in vain, especially if the economy begins to grow again.

Experience tells us that we do not need more overspending or higher taxes to grow jobs. We do not need more regulations or more government control - such as the government takeover of health care or the restrictions in domestic energy production.

Every day things get better because politicians are addressing the fiscal challenges more aggressively.

America needs a new approach to boost the economy - one that does not doom future generations to being saddled with paying off today's federal deficits.

You see, in government, people give you a mandate, and you've got to fulfil that. Ours is very clear. Fix our public finances and get our country working.

Government needs to get out of the way, focus more on affordability, manage taxes properly so we get the services we expect.

People understand that you have to do difficult things to sort out our own public finances.

Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.

Congress must build on the success of the Budget Control Act.

The Spending Control Act. It would recreate President Reagan's grace commission to have a bipartisan commission on how we reduce spending.

It certainly would be helpful going forward for deficit reduction efforts to focus on the medium term while not subtracting from the impetus we need to keep a fragile economy moving forward.

I believe, as a matter of principle, that the debt is a problem that must be addressed sooner rather than later. I also know that fundamental changes are needed in the way Washington spends and taxes if we truly want a healthy economy. This must include changing our government's long-term fiscal path, which is unsustainable.

I am prepared to discuss the things that I believe we need to do not just to raise the debt limit. Raising the debt limit is the easiest thing. That's one vote away. The hard thing is to show the world we are serious about putting our spending in order so we can show people we'll able to pay our bills down the road.

It's time to acknowledge that more government and higher taxes is not the answer to our problem.

The people of Illinois sent me to Springfield to end the era of unbalanced budgets and runaway debt.

The single greatest force for deficit reduction is a growing economy.

As always, it would be important to ensure that any fiscal policy changes did not compromise long-run fiscal sustainability.

You could make a case for job creation or education, police on the street, but none of those things can happen unless we got our financial house in order.

Serious people need to work hard to reduce the debt, reduce taxes, and slash regulation on the small businesses and families that are the lifeblood of new jobs and innovation in our state.

For those of us who want to accomplish something for the country, we need to come up with a list ... of anti-spending reforms which are locked into place so we are dramatically lowering the appetite of the federal government over the future.