Government is taking 40 percent of the GDP. And that's at the state local and federal level. President Obama has taken government spending at the federal level from 20 percent to 25 percent. Look at some point you cease being a free economy and you become a government economy. And we've got to stop that.

The real goal should be reduced government spending rather than balanced budgets achieved by ever rising tax rates to cover ever rising spending.

The discussion in Washington has changed dramatically. I mean it's no longer a question of should we address entitlements - it's no longer a question of do we need to reduce spending in the future.

The Republican argument that raising the debt ceiling encourages additional future spending is logically irresponsible. The debt ceiling has to be raised to authorize spending already approved by Congress. Despite that fallacy the GOP has been able to score political points with its argument.

President Obama has offered a plan with 4 trillion dollars in debt reduction over a decade with two and a half dollars of spending reductions for every one dollar of revenue increases and tight controls on future spending. It's the kind of balanced approach proposed by the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles commission.

Deficits mean future tax increases pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.

It's a funny thing - when I'm crazed with work spending time with my children relaxes me. Yet at the end of a long weekend with them the very thing I need to relax is a little work and time away from them!

Somewhere between 50 to 60 percent of the food you eat has been touched by immigrant hands and it is fair to say some of them are not here as they should be here. But if you didn't have these folks you would be spending a lot more - three four or five times more - for food or we would have to import food and have all the food security risks.

People see you onstage and the glamorous side but they don't see you traveling 600 miles a night eating truck stop food and spending by yourself staring at walls.

I don't like food that's too carefully arranged it makes me think that the chef is spending too much time arranging and not enough time cooking. If I wanted a picture I'd buy a painting.

The confidence is really driven by the woman - whether she can have the confidence that there will be enough earning or income to finance all the domestic spending - but also by the middle-income class which for many Asian countries has become the growth power for the economy.

It is incumbent upon each of us to improve spending and savings practices to ensure our own individual financial security and preserve the collective economic well-being of our great society.

If I'm not writing well I'm not happy. If I'm not spending enough time with my family I'm not happy. If I'm not connecting to friends or if I don't work out enough... You get the point. Everything has to be balanced. Nothing should be an extreme.

I enjoy being busy I really do. Remember I'm the stub end of the railroad. I have no family so I'm not taking busy time away from people that I should be spending it with. So I'm just relaxing and enjoying it.

I'm less worried about accomplishment - as younger people always can't help but be - and more concerned with spending my time well spending time with my family and reading learning things.

I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distractions the continued hurt caused on me and my family not because we are not fighters. Not because I'm not a fighter.

Going home and spending time with your family and your real friends keeps you grounded.

Greece's European neighbors were able step in and bolster the weak foundation on which Greece's free-spending budget was based. It would be difficult for any country or intergovernmental organization to rescue an economy the size of the U.S. if investors were ever to lose faith in our bonds because of our enormous debt.

Past experience with fiscal austerity at home and overseas strongly suggests that it is best for the economy's long-run performance to restrain government spending rather than raise taxes.

When they call the slightest spending reductions 'painful' we will say 'If government spending prevents pain why are we suffering so much of it?' And 'If you want to experience real pain just stay on the track we are on.'

In order to experience everyday spirituality we need to remember that we are spiritual beings spending some time in a human body.

Increased awareness and education could be a great help toward improving spending and saving habits and increasing participation and contribution levels to retirement plans.

You can't stand for too many things. You can't use the bully pulpit for too many things. So I promise you every day I am going to talk about jobs spending and education.

The zeitgeist is for cutting spending and balancing the budget. But I do not want the Republican Party to be perceived as putting the budget ahead of people jobs and education.