Now, finally, we should all be able to agree that we've got to do something about our long-term deficits. Now, these deficits won’t just burden our kids and our grandkids decades from now -- they could damage our markets now, they could drive up our interest rates now, they could jeopardize our recovery right now.
Responsible families don’t do their budgets the way the federal government does. Right? When times are tough, you tighten your belts. You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college. You prioritize. You make tough choices. It’s time your government did the same. (Applause.)
Now, that’s why I continue to insist on making investments for job growth this year, why I continue to insist that we put more money into education; that's why I say we put more money into science and technology for innovation. (Applause.) That's why I continue to believe that we've got to invest in our infrastructure so that we are building the kind of America that can compete in the 21st century. Those are smart investments. That's like buying the new boiler -- if it's busted, you got to get a new boiler. If the roof's leaking, you got to fix the roof. There's some things you've got to do.
But you can put off buying the new curtains, even if it'd be nice to have. You know, that -- remodeling the bathroom, I mean, everything is working. You don't need it right now. I mean, what we've been having are folks who want to buy the curtains but don't want to fix the boiler. (Applause.) And our priorities have to change.
That's why I proposed cutting more than 120 government programs -- consolidating ones that are duplicative, reducing ones that are wasteful, eliminating those that just don't work. (Applause.) That's why I proposed to cap government spending over the next three years. Spending related to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and our national security will not be affected. (Applause.) But all other discretionary government programs will. That doesn't mean we have to do less. It just means we've got to do more with the money we've got. That's why I'm grateful that both the House and the Senate have now voted to reinstate what's called the PAYGO rule. It's a very novel concept. It means "pay as you go." (Laughter and applause.) By the way, that is not to be confused with Paul Hodes's wife Peggo. (Applause.) That's a different -- although I really like her, too.
So the PAYGO rule helped create those record surpluses back in the 1990s. You remember that? That was way back when -- (laughter) -- instead of the record deficits that we had when I came into office. And the concept here is, as I said, is it's very simple. You want to start a new program? Go ahead. But you've got to cut another one to pay for it. That's how we'll make sure we're spending your money wisely. You want to cut taxes for somebody? That might be a good idea, but you got to find a way to close the revenue hole, so that everything actually adds up. That's how we'll get our deficit under control. That's something that Democrats and Republicans should be able to agree to -- if we could just stop playing politics, get past the Washington game. (Applause.)
Now, let me just -- let me just give you an example here, because we released the budget, right way the other side says, oh, look at all these trillions of dollars of debt -- absolutely. I mean, I'm concerned about it very much. It keeps me awake at night, looking at all that red ink. Most of it is structural and we inherited it. The only way that we are going to fix it is if both parties come together and start making some tough decisions about our long-term priorities.
But last week, the Senate blocked a law that I had supported to create a bipartisan fiscal commission that would come up with a set of recommendations for cutting our deficits in the long term. This is a difficult thing. It's only going to be solved if we do it together. This law failed by seven votes when seven Republicans who had co-sponsored the bill -- had co-sponsored the idea -- suddenly walked away from their own proposal after I endorsed it. (Laughter.) So, they make a proposal. They sign on to the bill. I say, great, good idea. I turn around -- (laughter) -- they're gone. What happened? (Laughter.) Look, it’s one thing to have an honest difference of opinion on something. There’s nothing wrong with that. But you can't walk away from your responsibilities to confront the challenges facing the country, because you don't think it’s good short-term politics. We can’t afford that. (Applause.) We can't afford that. (Applause.)
