We have a budget process that has only worked four times in 40 years.

The system of budgeting, authorization, and appropriation by definition was never going to work. It is not working.

I do not think this is going to hit us soon. I think it is here right now.

That is what we have done. That is what Senator Whitehouse said, and I agree.

There are four words that I have not heard up here in one year that I used to hear every day in business, and that is, 'We cannot afford it.'

I finally found something that Senator Whitehouse and I agree on, and I absolutely agree that the process is broken.

We have not had any salient conversations about how to save Social Security and Medicare.

I really am asking the question that, you know, if we cannot fund the budget by the deadline, I mean, what consequences are there?

There are too many easy release valves.

But therein lies the dysfunction in the Federal Government, in my mind.

That is encouraging.

We need to have a nonpartisan conversation about a party-neutral process to fund the United States Government.

But I am a little confused, because if you just look at the Social Security and Medicare liabilities over 30 years, it is much bigger than $21 trillion.

I would then argue that the assets are much bigger than $3 trillion, if you look at what the United States Government actually owns.

Good on you and good on the Federal Government to get $100 billion out.

I absolutely applaud what you are doing here in terms of looking at this authorization issue.

We have got to go big at this point, given the size of the financial crisis and the irresponsibility we have seen up here over the last 20 years--among both parties.

I want to applaud Senator Murray for her prior work and focus on this.