Jeb Hensarling in Obama Q+A at the 2010 House Republican retreat

On Budget & Economy: Spending 40% of GDP on government causes unconscionable debt

Rep. HENSARLING: A year ago I had an opportunity to speak to you about the national debt. And I left that conversation really feeling your sincere commitment to ensuring that our nation's children do not inherit an unconscionable debt. The cost of government is due to grow from 20% of our economy to 40%, right about the time our children are leaving college and getting that first job. The Republicans proposed a budget that ensured that government did not grow beyond the historical standard of 20% of GDP, and unfortunately, I believe that budget was ignored.

Pres. OBAMA: When we came into office, the deficit was $1.3 trillion, before I had passed any law. We came in with $8 trillion worth of debt over the next decade--had nothing to do with anything that we had done. It had to do with the fact that in 2000 when there was a budget surplus of $200 billion, you had a Republican administration and a Republican Congress, and we had two tax cuts that weren't paid for.

Source: Obama Q&A at 2010 House Republican retreat in Baltimore Jan 29, 2010

The above quotations are from Obama Q+A at the 2010 House Republican retreat. Click here for other excerpts from Obama Q+A at the 2010 House Republican retreat. Click here for other excerpts by Jeb Hensarling. Click here for a profile of Jeb Hensarling.
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