because it got so close to the edge. and i think what i heard from them was that they have confidence in our economy, much as the business people i talked to have confidence in our economy. i think what we need to do here in washington is to go from the coming together on wednesday night where we saw a strong bipartisan majority do the right thing and make progress from there, show that we can work together. >> so one more economic question. a lot of republicans are calling about the fact that whatever drama was here that the sequester cuts have been locked in place, these automatic spending cuts that have kept spending down at a historic level. do you think that has hurt the economy, hurt economic growth, the fact we've had this lower spending level? >> david, i think there is no question but that the deep spending cuts that are part of sequestration are holding back the economy. there are competing ranges, whether it's a half percent or more, up to a percentage of gdp.