Quote

Economic recovery begins with our small businesses.

We own the economy. We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure that we continue that pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place.

We really accomplished what we set out to do with the Recovery Act programs, which was to fill the lending gap created by the crisis.

We have to start grounding our policies in facts and recognize that a strong economy is critical for funding progressive priorities.

We have not recovered all that we lost in the Bush recession. That's why we need to continue to move forward.

In the immediate postwar years, the whole of Europe was in a recession. So first of all, it helped us step out of a recession; it gave a certain amount of speed to the economy. But that was the first step.

The last thing you want to do is raise taxes in the middle of the recession because that would just suck up and take more demand out of the economy and put businesses in a further hole.

Really, even in this whole Obama initiative, and everything that's going on with the economy, the only way to jump start it is we have to give each other opportunity. That's the only way to make it work.

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.

I understand what needs to be done to fix the economy.