Matt Taibbi Quotes

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

Every year, virtually every governor balances the budget.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Congress is not an ATM

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

Congress must do what we said we would and find ways to pay for bills we propose so we don't leave future generations mired in debt.

Let's stop bankrupting the country and start investing in our future.

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

We'll set our approach to borrowing, to spending, to taxation, in a sensible way on a sensible timescale.

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

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.

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

We do not have a revenue problem in D.C. or this county. We have a prioritization problem. When you create the priorities you fund the priorities of the country and you stop spending money when you get to zero.

I have voted to make tough decisions in budgetary times, I've served on two recessionary budgets, my opponent has never served on any a budget committee where there was less money to spend than the year before.

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.

The only way to meet the situation [the financial crisis] is spend less money and to run the City of New York within the limits of our resources. Unless you do this, gentlemen, you will have a difficult problem confronting you by the end of this year and the taxpayers of 1922 and the years thereafter will have to pay the price of our present lack of prudence or our unwillingness to economize at the proper time.

It is dangerous to play politics with the Budget.

We can't do everything with a budget, but we can put the country on much sounder financial footing.