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Rep. Mike Pence Discusses Tax Day and Tea Parties on Msnbc’s Hardball |
To view the video, click here.
Excerpts from the transcript:
"Candidly, now I know how the old settlers back in the West felt when the cavalry came riding over the hill. Those of us that have been fighting deficit spending and growth of government over much of the last decade under Republican Administrations and continuing to fight it under a Democrat Administration are heartened to see people like John [O'Hara] stepping forward. Millions of people across this country today that know we can't borrow and spend and bail our way back to a growing America...It really is a movement by Americans who are deeply concerned about the enormous weight of debt we're putting on our children and grandchildren and the inevitability of tax increases that will follow."
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"I really think something happened last fall when the American people saw the prior Administration and the Democrat Congress willing to get out our grandchildren's credit cards and bail out bad decisions on Wall Street. And the stimulus bill and the budget that was just passed are all just adding steam to that anxiety."
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"I think there are many Americans, like John is saying, that are deeply concerned about the sense that Washington, D.C., is - with its massive increases in spending and bailouts and borrowing and more taxes - out of step with the values of Republicans, Democrats and Independents across this country."
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"And what's happening today, what's been happening at the grassroots ever since, I think, is a growing tidal wave of discontent in this country that knows we can't borrow and spend and bail our way back to a prosperous America. And they're seeing this Administration, this majority in Congress continuing along that vein. And what you're seeing today in all 50 states, Mike, are Americans - good, decent, hard working Americans that are taking time out of their everyday lives to take a stand for fiscal discipline and fiscal sanity. I commend John and commend every one of the good people here in Indiana for taking that time as well."
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"I think for people like John, commentators around the country, those of us who have been fighting on the House floor for fiscal discipline; this isn't just about opposing a Democrat President and Democrat majority because of Democrats. It's about opposing runaway federal spending and a mountain range of red ink that's going to have to be dealt with with either higher taxes on this generation or higher taxes and a lower standard of living on the next."
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"I think what you're seeing happen on tax day today with these tea parties is just the latest iteration of what is going to be more public expression, more public frustration of runaway federal spending in Washington, D.C. And if that continues, that wind continues to blow, I really believe that we can see the course and direction of government in our nation's capitol come together and turn in the direction of fiscal sanity."