Sen. Mark Udall Makes Impassioned Speech Regarding National Debt Crisis, Raising Debt Ceiling

For the second time in a week, Thursday, Mark Udall took to the Senate floor urging his fellow congressmen to work together on a plan to address our ballooning national debt and the raising of the debt ceiling.

Udall made an impassioned speech addressing the need to bridge the divide between both parties to put comprehensive plan into action. In his speech, Udall spoke:

Now is the time to put aside our political differences and challenge ourselves to put our country first.... Our national debt is $14 trillion and growing. Today, each citizen's share of the debt is over $46,000. Coloradans from across my home state have told me they want to see their leaders try using some common sense - the kind of common sense Americans use when they're faced with the hard job of balancing their own budgets when money is tight. Nothing less than the fate of the U.S. economy hangs in the balance, and I'm willing to stay day and night, weekends and holidays, here in D.C. to help put a plan in motion.

Watch his full speech above.

Comments

[Tom Langley]

01:40 PM on 07/10/2011

Nationalize the Fed, outlaw government borrowing at interest, outlaw fractional reserve lending, print treasury scrip.

[EarlyWorm]

07:55 PM on 07/09/2011

Why per capita? That puts my family of 5 on the hook for almost 1/4 mil. The national wealth is approx. $60 trillion, making the debt less than 25% of the wealth. My family's share, at 25%, is a lot less than $250,000. I will gladly pay my family's 25% of net worth if the billionaires pay their $250,000,000+.

[jbowen43]

10:30 PM on 07/08/2011

Michael Bennet put it best when he said that we have to pay our bills including the debt owed to Social Security. Cutting taxes doesn't pay bills or create jobs. It just creates more debt.

[pa30]

03:25 PM on 07/08/2011

Wish I could blame WJC or GWB, but they haven't paid off the National Debt since the Civil War,or paid towards it since RR( WJC did not pay on the debt,in fact added $4tt)

[lensman3]

12:32 PM on 07/08/2011

Where are the jobs. You supported the big banks so they wouldn't fail, now do it for the citizens who paid for those bailout.

Also as I phoned your D.C. office and said that Social Security and Medicad/Medicare is more important than your re-election. Do NOT touch Social Security. Bring our boys/girls home from Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya, wars which we have lost. Cut a 1/2 trillion dollars from the military's budget.

Recall that Social Securty trust fund was invested and You in Congress have used it for bills.

[FrictionSoul]

12:02 PM on 07/08/2011

Every citizen? Every tax paying citizen? And what about the large corporations that are subsidized in order to socialize their operating costs, Mark?

[stevebeast]

10:23 PM on 07/07/2011

sure when you divide it up amoung the entire population it sounds like a lot but do the same thing with the GDP you can pay it in less than a year, wish I could pay all my personal debt with less than a year of my income. not sure what to think of Udall lately Prolly a little better than big oil bob, but the shine is beginning to dull.

[Seedomang]

08:55 PM on 07/07/2011

The banks are legal bookies!

[Nancy Cronk]

07:35 PM on 07/07/2011

Make corporate America PAY.

[Oonagh]

05:48 PM on 07/07/2011

The banks have a lot to answer to, they gave out credit cards like they were gift cards and too many people have gotten themselves so in debt.. Yes they were naive but if the banks were responsible this would not have happened...

[altohone]

05:34 PM on 07/07/2011

Poor little Republican checked the wrong box on his paperwork.

Dividing our debt by the population is letting every corporation off the hook for their share.
But that is a secret the wingnut thinktanks do not want you to know.

[rbchilds]

08:39 PM on 07/07/2011

Udall is a Democrat.

[lensman3]

12:35 PM on 07/08/2011

I think that Udall is a Democrat in name only.

And I agree since SCOTUS gave corporations the same rights as people, corporations should pay taxes (at the same rates) like the rest of us.

[pa30]

08:52 AM on 07/09/2011

Democrats are returning to their roots, and leaving progressives on their own.