James Douglas Quotes

Like Ike [President Eisenhower] did. Talk economy and then spend away.

We should reduce total government spending as a percentage of the economy. The left wants to focus on the deficit so they can take us away from the focus on spending as a percentage of the economy.

The American people know that we cannot spend our way to prosperity.

In a clean break from the Obama years, and frankly from the years before this president, we will keep federal spending at 20 percent of GDP, or less. That is enough. The choice is whether to put hard limits on economic growth, or hard limits on the size of government, and we choose to limit government.

Our system of keeping the federal government's books is a monument to the creativity of mankind ... We've cut government spending for 15 years in a row, and yet have spent more money in each of those years.

The issue is not growth verses fiscal responsibility. We need both!

Britain can only spend what it can afford.

I am a governor who left office with a smaller general fund budget than when we started.

The budget doesn't have much control over the government. Then again, the government doesn't have much control over the budget.

I don't have a firm line on balanced budgets.

In an economy where public spending is extremely important, the governments must spend, they must spend more but at the same time you can't afford to be reckless and do away with all kinds of fiscal prudence.

We can't let government make long-term commitments that it may not be able to keep.

We'll set our approach to borrowing, to spending, to taxation, in a sensible way on a sensible timescale.

We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we 'cling' to them, though not out of fear or ignorance. We believe in paying our bills. We have kept our state in the black throughout the recent unpleasantness, while cutting rather than raising taxes, by practicing an old tribal ritual - we spend less money than we take in.

All the states are required, either by constitution or by statute, to have balanced budgets - they're not able to print money. So they have to focus on establishing priorities.

Cutting budget deficits can never be just an exercise in economics.

Leaders should not just talk about - but walk the walk of - fiscal conservatism.

If it took multiple debt ceiling hikes, I'd rather achieve the savings.

I don't have many litmus tests, but this is one: Any candidate who doesn't understand that we need to balance the budget should not be president of the United States.

Bush has never sent over a balanced budget.

The U.S. has a law on the books called the debt limit, but the name is misleading. The debt limit started in 1917 for the purpose of facilitating more national debt, not reducing it. It still serves that purpose. It's unconnected to spending, hurts our credit rating and has been an abject failure at limiting debt.

There is a very serious fiscal-policy question of, 'Are we running our overall fiscal policy such that we as a government can pay our bills?'

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

Disciplined governments do not engage in the economic equivalent of binge eating followed by crash dieting.

We've not had one Republican president in 34 years balance the budget. You can't trust right-wing Republicans with your money. You ought to hire somebody who has balanced a budget. I'm much more conservative with money than George Bush is.