rohit khare kharealumnicaltechedu bottom line late senate minority leader certainly would endorsed meaning behind phrase questionable ever coined interesting link courtesy harrow report theres written evidence far senator everett dirksen source infamous quote attributed kind astounding enough general social consensus 25 queries makes faq eyewitness reporting without single written source essay doesnt seem answer though earliest attributed quote print writer id naturally much skeptical quote emerged death rk httpwwwdirksencenterorgfeaturesbillionherehtm billion billion dirksen ever say billion billion pretty soon youre talking real money anything close perhaps based exhaustive search paper audio records dirksen congressional center staffers found evidence dirksen ever uttered phrase popularly attributed archivists undertook search studying research statistics showing 25 percent inquiries quote variations examined existing audio tapes famed ev charlie ev jerry shows newspapers clippings dirksen papers 12500 pages dirksens speech notes transcripts speeches media appearances transcripts republican leadership press conferences dirksens statements senate floor documented congressional record although dirksen rarely prepared text speech preferring rely notes employ brief phrases remind particular turn phrase example referring public debt excessive government spending dirksen would jot word pothole remind tell following story occasion reference debt ceiling think bill fact progress make deeper go hole reminded group men working street dug quite number holes got failed puddle tamp earth returned hole nice little mound quite traffic hazard knowing sat curb conference one fellows snapped fingers said know get rid overriding earth remove hazard dig hole deeper congressional record june 16 1965 p 13884 occasion dirksen relied yet another spending story one labeled cat well one time house representatives colleague told story proposition teacher put boy said johnny cat fell well 100 feet deep suppose cat climbed 1 foot fell back 2 feet long would take cat get well johnny worked assiduously slate slate pencil quite teacher came said getting along johnny said teacher give another slate couple slate pencils pretty sure next 30 minutes land cat hell people get cheer 328 billion debt ceiling find much cheer concerning congressional record june 16 1965 p 13884 reminders billion billion tag line surely given dirksens notemaking tendencies spoke often passionately debt ceiling federal spending growth government yet authoritative reference billion phrase chief evidence support dirksen making statement comes people claim heard library congress example cites someones personal observation campaign trail evidence dirksen center received calls people heard dirksen say words even providing date event crosschecking information records far turned nothing way confirmation closest documented statement came joint senatehouse republican leadership press conference march 8 1962 dirksen said favorite sum money 1 billion billion year fatter federal payroll billion billion emd papers republican congressional leadership file f 25 pretty soon youre talking real money missing another close call new york times january 23 1961 quoted dirksen look education twoandonehalf billion billion billion billion something else three five billion public works havent got budget balance left youll deeply red cited byron hulseys everett dirksen modern presidents phd dissertation may 1998 university texas p 226 course dirksen papers document completely late senators comments example center bears name testimony committees collection congressional records ends 1965 omitting last four years dirksens life career might employed phrase late although witnesses claim said throughout career dirksens campaign speeches tended produce transcripts sketchy notes abbreviated newspaper accounts dirksen also held center stage video age meaning many remarks particularly campaigns escaped capture bottom line late senate minority leader certainly would endorsed meaning behind phrase questionable ever coined permanent email address kharealumnicaltechedu mon 26 aug 2002 190550 0700 billion billion