We keep telling them that raising taxes without serious reforms will not solve the public debt problem. The government must first cut waste in public departments and combat corruption.

This is a very dangerous proposal by the government. Banks are the main pillar of the local economy and this step would certainly cause serious damage to the sector.

We will have at the end of this process a government that derives its legitimacy from the free desire of the Iraqi people,

During this campaign the chancellor and the prime minister will stand up and say it [the government] hasn't increased taxes, and that's just not true for business.

He believes this will bring some fiscal accountability to the federal government. It does that without raising taxes and at the same time is helping as many of those in need as possible.

The ongoing task of debt management for the federal government will clearly be very different in the years ahead than it has been in the past, when debt was rapidly increasing, ... With $3.6 trillion in debt outstanding, even a 3 basis point (0.03 percentage point) reduction in federal borrowing costs will ultimately produce savings of more than $1 billion per year.