wars. it's 2011. deficits didn't matter then, but now they're everything to republicans now. >> well, let's look at -- i think scale matters, david. i mean, we were -- prior to 2001, we were in a surplus. we were talking about deficit, i think at that point of $100 billion, not $1.5 trillion, not something that is grinding our economy down. also, you mentioned 2002. that was right after the attacks of 2011, and we were pretty much, you know, worried about the security of our country immediately as to whether we were going to be attacked again and trying to defeat the forces that just attacked us. so of course, when you're responding to an attack like that, you worry about stopping the enemy so they don't hit you again, and the context is important in that statement. >> so, deficits mattered even to you then? >> well, of course they did. i'm someone who's, again, fought to end entitlements, fought to cut spending. for years i was someone who introduced more original spending bills to cut the deficit than anybody else. i believe that we need to get our fiscal house in order. i have been a strong fisca conservative throughout and i'll continue to be.