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Republican Hypocrisy on Deficits

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

The quotes below are from "Restoring the Dream, The Bold New Plan" by House Republicans, copyright 1995 by the Republican National Committee. Similar views were present in the Contract with America.

"Of course, the real burden of the national debt will be borne by our children and children's children. This is precisely why Americans once held a deeply ingrained moral taboo against deficit spending. Budget deficits are the ultimate form of what our nation was founded to protect against taxation without representation."

"The runaway national debt has much the same impact on our nation's financial condition as termites do on the structure of a house."

"A basic ingredient to achieving the American Dream is thrift. . . By hijacking our savings, the government hijacks our opportunity to experience the American Dream."

"To be perfectly honest, we would love to keep playing Santa Claus. We could pretend the debt doesn't exist; pass out $1.6 trillion of government largesse each year, and let the next Congress deal with the rising sea of red ink. . . Regrettably, this is precisely the approach the President has chosen with his most recent budget plan. In what we regard as a spectacular abdication of leadership, the President's plan to deal with the debt is to do--nothing. . . We dub this the Democrat "party-on" strategy. That strategy is to keep spending and borrowing, and worry about the red ink tomorrow, or next week, or next year, or next decade."

"Whether a balanced budget amendment is approved this year or not, we regard the elimination of the deficit as our central mission. We recently asked Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan what he thought would be the impact of balancing the budget. He told us 'I think real incomes would significantly improve. . .Americans would look forward to their children doing better than they.' In other words, it would be a major step toward restoring the American Dream."

"We acknowledge that the job of balancing the budget is going to be the most difficult job for Congress to accomplish in decades. But in partnership with the American people, it will get done. This commitment we owe not just to our children, but equally to the generations of Americans who came before us and helped build this free and prosperous nation."

"Isn't it time we pushed corporate American off the federal dole? Corporate subsidies and handouts have become pervasive in the federal budget."

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION