[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 26, 2014)]
[House]
[Page H1943]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          PRESIDENT OBAMA IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN SENATOR OBAMA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Olson) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OLSON. Madam Speaker, on the issue of increasing America's 
national debt, President Obama is very different than Senator Obama.
  Senator Barack Obama, on the House floor, March 16, 2006:

       The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's 
     debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that 
     the U.S. Government can't pay its own bills. It is a sign we 
     now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign 
     countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal 
     policies. Over the past 5 years, our Federal debt has 
     increased by $3.5 trillion to $8.6 trillion. That is trillion 
     with a ``t.'' That is money that we have borrowed from the 
     Social Security trust fund, borrowed from China and Japan, 
     borrowed from American taxpayers.
       Numbers that large are sometimes hard to understand. Some 
     people may wonder why they matter. Here is why: this year the 
     Federal Government will spend $220 billion on interest.

  Senator Obama later explained:

       That is more money to pay interest on our debt this year 
     than we will spend on education, homeland security, 
     transportation, and veterans benefits combined.

  After talking about Hurricane Katrina, Senator Obama shifted to the 
debt tax:

       And the cost of our debt is one of the fastest growing 
     expenses in our Federal budget. This rising debt is a hidden 
     domestic enemy, robbing our cities and States of critical 
     investments in infrastructure like bridges, ports, and 
     levees, robbing our families and our children of critical 
     investments in education, health care reform, robbing our 
     seniors of the retirement and health security they have 
     counted on.
       Every dollar we pay in interest is a dollar that is not 
     going to investment in America's priorities. Instead, 
     interest payments are a significant tax on all Americans, a 
     debt tax that Washington doesn't want to talk about.
       If Washington were serious about an honest tax relief in 
     this country, we would see an effort to reduce our national 
     debt by returning to responsible fiscal policies.

  And Senator Obama finally brought up our debt to unfriendly nations:

       Now, there is nothing wrong with borrowing from foreign 
     countries. But we must remember that the more we depend on 
     foreign nations to lend us money, the more our economic 
     security is tied to the whims of foreign leaders whose 
     interests might not be aligned with ours.
       Increasing America's debt weakens us domestically and 
     internationally. Leadership means that ``the buck stops 
     here.'' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad 
     choices today onto the backs of our children and 
     grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of 
     leadership. Americans deserve better.
       I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase 
     America's debt limit.

  Today, our national debt is $18 trillion with a ``t.'' Clearly, 
President Obama has forgotten Senator Obama's words, but the American 
people remember, and on their behalf, I ask President Obama to decrease 
our debt by working with Congress to reform our Tax Code to make it 
pro-growth and anti-debt.

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