Judd Gregg

Design the programs. Decide how large the government is going to be. Do a tax reform to finance it.

I do believe the size of the government is going to have to grow simply because of the demographic shift.

I think the appropriate way to approach this is to set the size of the government as a percent of GDP.

I think you have to act to show seriousness of purpose as soon as possible.

That is actually why I was so encouraged by the President putting 'change CPI' on the table.

I actually believe if you do Medicare reform correctly, you actually get a better system at a lower cost, which is exactly what we need.

We have to figure out how to do the deal that straightens this out.

I think Dr. Rivlin is absolutely correct on both points, and Simpson-Bowles did the same thing that Domenici-Rivlin did, which was to actually increase benefits to single women over 85, and low-income individuals.

the biggest threat to this Nation after the potential of a terrorist using a weapon of mass destruction is our financial health.

the government is going to go from 20 percent of GDP to 24 percent of GDP. That spending is the driver, in large part, of the gap that is causing the deficit and the debt which is going to bankrupt the country.

The key difficulty facing the Congress now, I think, is to legislate or in other ways lock in future deficit reduction.

I remain hopeful that we will come up with a serious and credible plan to face up to our long-term deficits and debt.