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When the economy is growing, there's a lot that can be done to deal with the deficit.

It's going to be true that anything that reduces the federal deficit will have somebody unhappy.

The Depression was an incredibly dramatic episode - an era of stock-market crashes, breadlines, bank runs and wild currency speculation, with the storm clouds of war gathering ominously in the background... For my money, few periods are so replete with human interest.

It's insane to try to balance the budget.

The financial report makes it very clear that if we got into honest budgeting today, that in fact we would find ourselves with a much larger deficit than we have today.

Well, I think what we need to remember is that budget deficits can impede economic activity.

I think if there's a great depression there might be some hope.

We cannot win the future, expand the economy and spur job creation if we are saddled with increasingly growing deficits. That is why the president's budget is a comprehensive and responsible plan that will put us on a path toward fiscal sustainability in the next few years - a down payment toward tackling our challenges in the long term.