Jacob J. Lew Quotes

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

The single greatest force for deficit reduction is a growing economy.

Our economy grew at double the rate of the nation. We created 1.3 million jobs. We led the nation seven out of those eight years. We were only one of two states that went to AAA bond rating. I cut taxes, $19 billion. If you do that and apply conservative principles the right way, you create an environment where everybody rises up.

So I come before you with a budget that is honest in its discussion of our challenges, creative in its possible solutions, compassionate in its commitment to our most vulnerable, and balanced on the bottom line.

Sound public finances are the essential foundation on which to construct a better-balanced economy from the wreckage of Labour's boom and bust. But it is economic growth that will create the jobs and the prosperity for the future and enable us to pay down Labour's debt.

I think where I differ a little bit, we absolutely have to think about the deficit looking down the road. And certainly that's something the president has said that we need to, as the economy recovers, have a plan in place for getting it down.

We're focused on doing the things that make the economy perform well, and as you do that, reduce deficits, for one, very important; secondly, keep growth rates high, very important.

It certainly would be helpful going forward for deficit reduction efforts to focus on the medium term while not subtracting from the impetus we need to keep a fragile economy moving forward.

My highest priority is to make sure we get Americans back to work. And that we have rising incomes again and that we have a deficit reduction program in place that convinces the world that we're on track to having a balanced budget.

You cannot have a society where you spend more than you earn. I mean, it's just fundamentally not viable in the long run.

Near-term deficits are temporary and manageable if - and only if - we keep spending in check, the tax burden low and the economy growing.

I am my own man. I governed as a conservative, and I govern effectively. And the net effect was, during my eight years, 1.3 million jobs were created. We left the state better off because I applied conservative principles in a purple state the right way, and people rose up.

What we do want to see is reforms that are going to have a permanent effect on the budget deficit.

The American people elected us here to cut spending so we can create an environment for jobs in America. The House has acted. We have demonstrated that we want to see spending, discretionary spending, brought down to levels of 2008. We've seen no counteraction. We have seen no position that has been expressed by the other side at all.

From the day he took office, President Obama has been open to any good idea when it comes to the budget, as long as supporting middle-class families remains our North Star. Republicans won't extract concessions over the full faith and credit of the United States.

When Governor Romney was out here, I told him, I said, 'we are following the formula of streamlining regulations, being job creating friendly, balancing budgets, cutting taxes, and, you know, using common sense. And if you get to be president, we are going to do more of that.'

At his best, Obama promised to work with Republicans to reduce the deficit in a way that honors both individualism and community.

I will work to restore fiscal responsibility to our country's budget and to provide for a more robust economy.

I think achieving a higher fiscal stability is also a very important condition for restoring an environment which is conducive to growth.

As long as we're focused on spending, there are only two ways to do that: One is spend less, and Democrats have no solutions for that. Or we have pro-growth policies that make the economy grow so the dead-weight cost of government becomes a smaller percentage of the economy and therefore less expensive.

I mean, the fact of the matter is, Ohio 's coming back because we set a clear path, we cut taxes, we balanced our budget, we got credit upgrades when the whole rest of the world, including America, was being downgraded.

We had a $10 billion budget deficit when we got here in January of 2003. We cut that budget deficit; we did not raise taxes; we came back in '05, and we had an $8 billion surplus. That's how fast it can happen.

It is vital that we get these policies right as we take forward our plans to drive down the deficit and transform our economy.

People want results. I call it 'results oriented conservatism,' R.O.C. because that's what people want out of government.

We cannot cut our way to prosperity.