Meet the Press interviews during 2015: on Budget & Economy

Ted Cruz: Use debt limit as leverage for policy change

CRUZ: What I'd like to see on the debt limit is Republican leaders fight for something. For Pete's sakes, anything.

Donald Trump: Grow the economy at 6% annually by ending inversions

Q: But we just had 4% the last quarter.

TRUMP: But if you look at the overall average, we're doing less than 2% for the year. If China can do 7% -

Q: Right, but an emerging economy is always going to do 6%, 7%. Our sweet spot is 3% to 5%.

TRUMP: Right. If we do 6% or 7% under my plan, everybody benefits in jobs.

Q: We've never had a year of 6% or 7%. How is that gonna look?

TRUMP: Well, number one, corporate inversion is a big deal. There are many companies right now that are talking about very seriously leaving this country. And you're talking about thousands of jobs.

Q: What you're saying is, you make it all up with growth.

TRUMP: Not all up with growth. We also start cutting.

Donald Trump: Cut defense budget, & entire EPA & Dept. of Education

TRUMP: I would get rid of some. For example, the Department of Education. I would certainly get rid of a lot of it. I want local education. We could save a fortune with Environmental Protection--

Q: what is another agency you'd get rid of?

TRUMP: Even in the military, I'm going to build a military that's much stronger than it is right now. But you know what? We can do it for a lot less.

Q: So you believe you can spend less money on defense than we do today?

TRUMP: I think we can make our defense much stronger and spend somewhat less money.

Chris Christie: Cut taxes and reduce spending, while creating new jobs

And the fact is that we spend $2.5 billion less than we used to. But here's the bigger thing. What they wanted was something in New Jersey who was going to finally stand up and say no to higher taxes, no to more spending, and more yes to parental involvement, parental choices. We've done all those things in New Jersey. And so anybody could pick out any kind of statistics they want. But in New Jersey, it's much better today than it was six years ago.

John Kasich: Wall Street is vital for the US, but often times too greedy

A: You know, look, that's past history. Wall Street is necessary. Because it helps move the financial operations of America forward. But I'll tell you the problem with Wall Street. It's too much about, "I've got to make money." There's too much greed. If all you seek is money without values, then you're bankrupt. And so what I think is our financial community has to realize that there's a moral underpinning. Free enterprise and free markets are exactly what we ought to have in America. But there has to be a conscience that underlays it.

Q: Anything positive to say about Lehman?

A: The greatest thing I got from Lehman is I spent a lot of time in the Silicon Valley. And when I went out there, I could see the future. And that's what we have to be about in America, bringing ourselves together, innovating, you know, in terms of innovation and vision.