"First, we must balance the federal budget. /standing ovation/ We can do so without raising taxes. /cheers, standing ovation/ What we need is spending discipline in Washington, D.C. We set a goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009 – and met that goal three years ahead of schedule. /applause/ Now let us take the next step. In the coming weeks, I will submit a budget that eliminates the federal deficit within the next five years. /applause/ I ask you to make the same commitment. Together, we can restrain the spending appetite of the federal government, and we can balance the federal budget."
"Next, there is the matter of earmarks. These special interest items are often slipped into bills at the last hour – when not even C-SPAN is watching. /laughter/ In 2005 alone, the number of earmarks grew to over 13,000 and totaled nearly $18 billion. Even worse, over 90 percent of earmarks never make it to the floor of the House and Senate – they are dropped into Committee reports that are not even part of the bill that arrives on my desk. You didn't vote them into law. I didn't sign them into law. Yet they are treated as if they have the force of law. The time has come to end this practice. So let us work together to reform the budget process ... expose every earmark to the light of day and to a vote in Congress, and cut the number and cost of earmarks at least in half by the end of this session."