John B. Breaux: “It is not necessarily just the financial situation we are looking at. We are looking at something that is called…”

“It is not necessarily just the financial situation we are looking at. We are looking at something that is called fairness. When we, as Democrats, look at trying to tax people that are making $25,000 and a blue-collar job, driving a truck in my State of Louisiana, and telling that couple that they should be subsidizing someone who makes $100,000 a year who is retired, that is not good policy. So this is a policy change as much as it is anything else. It is a question of fairness. We have a system that is going broke and we are going to make changes. The changes should be fair. I suggest this is a fair and equitable change to ask for those who can most afford it to pay a little bit more so those who can least afford it will not have to continue to subsidize those who are very well-off in retirement. That is a fair test. It is a good proposal. I suggest that we support it.”