On the recordMay 15, 2012
If I could add one other item to what my colleague said, we all know the big problem is spending on entitlements, the so-called mandatory spending. Well, the only thing mandatory about it is that it has to be spent unless we say something different. But we do not have the courage around here to reform our entitlement programs to the point that they are going to be available for at least our kids by the time they retire, and in some cases they may not even be available for some of us. The other thing I would want to say about the President's budget is it continues this glidepath to insolvency for Medicare, which the recent Trustees Report says has an unfunded liability of $26.4 trillion. So in addition to spending too much, taxing too much, and borrowing too much, it does not do anything about the biggest problem we have, which is the broken entitlement programs that are not going to work for the people who are currently anticipating they will be there for them when they retire.
