Douglas Alexander Quotes

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

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

Government must continue to live within its means.

We should reduce total government spending as a percentage of the economy. The left wants to focus on the deficit so they can take us away from the focus on spending as a percentage of the economy.

Cutting budget deficits can never be just an exercise in economics.

Like working families all across the state, we must find a way to make government live within its means.

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

In addition to reining in spending, taxes, tolls and fees, let's rein in how much the state borrows.

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

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.

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.

If it took multiple debt ceiling hikes, I'd rather achieve the savings.

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

As Indiana's governor, I balanced eight budgets, never raised taxes, and left the largest surplus in state history. It wasn't always easy. Cuts had to be made and some initiatives deferred. Occasionally I had to say 'no.'

The real goal should be reduced government spending, rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever rising tax rates to cover ever rising spending.

Look, I am not worried about Washington cutting too much spending too fast. I mean, the kinds of spending cuts we're talking about just right now are $100 billion out of a $3.7 trillion budget.

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

My goal was to do the best job I could in governing the state of Wisconsin, in some cases making very tough decisions to have to bring our spending in line with the resources we had at the state level.

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.

It's insane to try to balance the budget.

If you ask people do you think that government should spend less money than what it takes in, most people agree with that.

My opponent Senator Menendez and his colleagues are pursuing what I consider a Jon Corzine economic policy. Higher taxes, more spending, more debt.

I think where I differ a little bit, we absolutely have to think about the deficit looking down the road. And certainly that's something the president has said that we need to, as the economy recovers, have a plan in place for getting it down.

Governments that try to shoot for a surplus hardly ever reach it.