John Tiffany Quotes

I've made more cuts than any governor has ever made.

Deficits must be cut, yes, but the rush to austerity risks undermining the fragile global recovery.

I have a record as governor. I have a record of cutting spending. And I talked yesterday not only about we ought to cut spending, I talked about how we've cut spending in Mississippi and how if you did the same things in the federal government, you would save tens of billions of dollars a year.

You will see the President being very, very tough on spending.

At a time of tight budgets, unless something is really broken and not working, they [his congressional colleagues] just don't get excited about it.

When they talk about belt-tightening in Washington, they are talking about tightening our belts.

Those who make the most and loudest speeches about deficit reduction are least likely to vote against spending.

Austerity [in the Defense Department] meant that risks had to be managed, not eliminated.

I think it's essential that we do more than talk about austerity measures and cutting.

In difficult economic times, I'm firmly opposed to austerity.

Higher taxes is the road to ruin. We must and we will shrink our government, and that means making some tough choices, tightening our belts.

I am an austere president.

When businesses face tough times, one of the first items they cut is overhead expenses. The government should do the same.

As American families and businesses have been forced to tighten their belts, Washington has refused to do the same.

No one cuts backs like he did. No one knows what a back is anymore.

As Indiana's governor, I balanced eight budgets, never raised taxes, and left the largest surplus in state history. It wasn't always easy. Cuts had to be made and some initiatives deferred. Occasionally I had to say 'no.'

Look, I am not worried about Washington cutting too much spending too fast. I mean, the kinds of spending cuts we're talking about just right now are $100 billion out of a $3.7 trillion budget.

Sequestration is leverage that should not be given up easily.

Someone has to stay on the line and say, no, we can do this by cutting spending and reducing the size of government. That's what I was committed to doing.

I was able to promote a strong defense budget when it could have been cut a lot more severely.

When millions of Americans are tightening their belts, folks have the right to expect their elected officials to do the same.

When you have a country that's been accustomed to government spending at a certain level, it is really hard to ratchet it back.

I've actually cut my personal pay individually; we didn't vote on that, but I've done that individually. It's important that folks know that we're going to roll up our sleeves and work on things, and members of Congress are going to sacrifice our own budgets first.

I have voted to make tough decisions in budgetary times, I've served on two recessionary budgets, my opponent has never served on any a budget committee where there was less money to spend than the year before.

If we can't find cuts in the defense budget, we're not looking carefully enough.