Thomas J. Donahue Quotes

When national debts have once been accumulated to a certain degree, there is scarce, I believe, a single instance of their having been fairly and completely paid. The liberation of the public revenue, if it has ever been brought about at all, has always been brought about by bankruptcy; sometimes by an avowed one, but always by a real one, though frequently by a pretend payment.

I am not worried about the deficit. It is big enough to take care of itself.

I think at the end of the day we have to raise the debt ceiling, because America pays its bills.

The debt ceiling at some point has to be raised. I don't think there's anybody that questions the fact that if we ended up getting in a situation where the U.S. government was sending out IOUs like the state of California did at one point, that ends up creating quite a brand problem for our country.

American economic history does not support the idea that a strong economy depends on chronic federal borrowing.

If we hit the debt ceiling, that's... essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on the economy would be catastrophic.

Nobody wants to put the creditworthiness of the United States in jeopardy. Nobody wants to see the United States default. So we've got to seize this moment, and we have to seize it soon.

I do not want America to default on its debt.

We cannot continue our leadership in the world as the largest debtor nation the world has ever known.

The single biggest threat to our national security is our debt.

The debt ceiling serves no useful purpose.

The debt ceiling is not something to toy with.

Look, I don't dispute that the deficit has increased.

There's no debt limit in the Constitution.

I think it's important that people know what raising the debt ceiling is. It's Congress giving permission to the federal government to borrow more money that we don't have, and we borrow it for the purpose of spending it.

It is simply science fiction fantasy to say that, if you do not raise the debt ceiling, that everything is going to collapse.

The American people will eventually get hurt by this accumulated deficit. That's the problem. We have too much deficit. We have to find a solution.

The debate we won't be having is whether or not the debt ceiling should be raised. We will not have a situation where people will hold the American economy hostage in order to achieve a specific agenda - at least not until 2013. So we think that is incredibly important as a matter of economic good.

I certainly don't want our nation to go into default, but at the same time, I'm very concerned about our ongoing debt problem.

There is a limit to how much the United States Treasury can borrow.

Madame Deficit

A public debt is a kind of anchor in the storm; but if the anchor be too heavy for the vessel, she will be sunk by that very weight which was intended for her preservation.

Our national finances are in a ruinous state.

The reason Congress hasn't balanced the budget is that the sky hasn't fallen lately.

I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our constitution ... an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing.