sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government cannot pay
its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial
assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless
fiscal policies. Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and
internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here.' Instead,
Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our
children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of
leadership. Americans deserve better.”
-- Senator Barack H. Obama, March 2006
