start to clear on this. it s obvious that the continuing issue this shutdown is going to roll into the debt ceiling issue, so you re going to have them both on top of each other soon, by october 17th. they re going to both have to be addressed. the only way you can address them both is take up the issue of how you deal with the sequester because that s the forcing mechanism for getting spending reductions. i think there s a chance to do something and if the parties would sit down and talk, then we could probably get something done. let me ask you about the partisanship, because you left the senate in 2011, and that heavyduty partisan seemed to start while you were still in office. i suspect that was not all that comfortable for you. is that fair? well, i ve always thought that the purpose of government is to govern, and in a constitutional system built off of checks and balances as madison gave us that you have to go across the aisle to govern. that s just a simple fact. there are
if you re going to raise the debt ceiling for the next year offset it by spending reductions in entitlement spending over the next decade. that s an entirely reasonable formula the president already agreed to at a previous debt ceiling vote. i think the american people if i can be so bold to speak to them they have now seen this debt ceiling fight 40 times in the last 30 years. never good fights. some have been fights the last two times. this time and the time before. i bet the american people think when they have spending problems at home and reach the top of their visa or american express card, they tighten their belt and say will you put another $5,000 on? because they can t pay it. we have two votes, one to raise the amount of me on the government is allowed to borrow, the debt ceiling itself. we have another set of votes when we adopt the budget resolution and pass the
if you are raising the debt ceiling for the next year then offset it by spending reductions and en titlement spending over the next decade. that s a reasonable formula which the president has agreed to in a previous debt ceiling vote. i think the american people if i can be so bold to speak to them, they have now seen the debt ceiling fight over 40 times in the last 30 years. there have been agreements. some have been fight it is last two times. this time and the time before. i bet the american people think when they have spending problems at home they reached the top of their visa or american express and they tighten the belt. they don t call up visa and say, put another $5,000 on it. or not twice because they are worried they can t pay. we have two votes. one is the debt ceiling vote itself. we adopt a budget resolution and passed the 12 appropriations
programs, and unfunded liability, that they are leaving on this generation and the next. so are you saying you re willing to if you could get a compromise on entitlements then you would give up on the sequestration? what we have always said in the house as republicans, leadership and members alike, is that we want to fix the real problem. the real problem is entitlements. we ve always said, sequester is not the best way to go about spending reductions. it was, as you know, a default mechanism, because congress couldn t do the job it was supposed to a couple years ago. we ve always said that. are you ready to give up on sequestration? in fact, chris, we ve always said, president, come join us, but the house is the only one who has consistently engaged in trying to address the spending problem. this fall will give us a great opportunity, i think, to all come together, try to tackle the real problem, which is the entitlements. when you back from your
liability, that they are leaving on this generation and the next. so are you saying you re willing to if you could get a compromise on entitlements then you would give up on the sequestration? what we have always said in the house as republicans, leadership and members alike, is that we want to fix the real problem. the real problem is entitlements. we ve always said, sequester is t the best way to go about spending reductions. it was, as you know, a default mechanism, because congress couldn t do the job it was supposed to a couple years ago. we ve always said that. are you ready to give up on sequestration? in fact, chris, we ve always said, president, come join us, but the house is the only one who has consistently engaged in trying to address the spending problem. this fall will give us a great opportunity, i think, to all come together, try to tackle the real problem, which is the entitlements. when you back from your