So the bottom line is, short term, we have to do what has been done 11 times in the past. Long term, we have to work together to make Social Security solvent for our kids and our grandchildren.

I have proposed on different--some of my colleagues have approached the problem in a slightly different way, but I asked the Chief Actuary of the Social Security Administration, Mr. Goss, to estimate how long the solvency of Social…

My understanding is that for someone who is fully disabled in Holland, they would receive benefits equivalent to about 85 percent of what their previous income was.

I would hope very much that we in the Senate will move to confirm you and remove the 'Acting' from your title.

Under President Bush, my Republican colleagues passed huge tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and some of the most profitable corporations in this country.

If we are serious about dealing with the deficit, we are going to have to look at revenue.

If the debt is just a stalking horse for an attack on social programs--on Medicare, on Social Security, on other things--and if it is defined, as it has been defined in this very hearing, as an overspending problem, and my colleagues…

I find it a little bit strange that some of my deficit hawk friends who want to cut Social Security or Medicare or Medicaid forgot to pay for two wars.

How does a person with a disability survive out on the street when the weather gets, in my State, 10 below zero?

In this country, do you know what the number is?

Today millions of Americans are working longer hours for low wages. We have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on Earth.

I know that the oil companies have huge clout around here. They do not need subsidies.

I love the idea that we brought somebody from Europe to be with us today. I think that is a great idea, and I think we should do more of it.

Everybody has health insurance, so maybe we should have a hearing here as to how that works.

if that massive transfer of wealth and income did not take place, Social Security would be in much better financial shape

The fact of the matter is that over the last 40 years, under Democratic and Republican leadership, we have witnessed an enormous transfer of wealth from the middle class and the poor to multimillionaires and billionaires.

the answer is spending is one cause of deficit, but not raising revenue is another cause of deficit.

I think the history of the last number of decades is that we have taken from the middle class and the working families of this country and given to the super rich.