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Town Hall Debate - Debt and Credit: How would you break t...

906 views · Published 8 October 2008 · 4:25 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: C-SPAN · 2008 · News & Politics

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http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/vidLink.php?b=1223429585&e=1223429849&n=001

SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think it starts with Washington. We've got
to show that we've got good habits because if we're running up
trillion-dollar debts that we're passing on to the next generation,
then a lot of people are going to think, well, you know what, there's
easy money out there.
It means -- and I have to, again, repeat this -- it means not
just looking at the spending side, but also at the revenue side. I
mean, Senator McCain has -- has, you know, been talking tough about
earmarks, and that's good. But earmarks account for about $18 billion
of our budget. Now, when Senator McCain is proposing tax cuts that
would give the average Fortune 500 CEO an additional $700,000 in tax
cuts, that's not sharing a burden. And so part of the problem I think
for a -- a lot of people who are listening here tonight is they don't
feel as if they are sharing the burden with other folks.
I mean, you know, it's tough to ask a -- a teacher who's making
30 (thousand dollars) or $35,000 a year to tighten her belt when
people who are making much more than her are living pretty high on the
hog. And -- and that's why, I think, it's important for the president
to set a tone that says all of us are going to contribute, all of us
are going to make sacrifices.
And it means that, yes, we may have to cut some spending, although I
disagree with Senator McCain about an across-the-board freeze.
That's an example of an unfair burden-sharing. That's using a
hatchet to cut the federal budget. I want to use a scalpel, so that
people who need help are getting help. And those of us, like myself
and Senator McC

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