Mike Thompson: “the budget surplus which will be obtained this year is the greatest achievement of common sense and foresight in…”

“the budget surplus which will be obtained this year is the greatest achievement of common sense and foresight in decades. While much of the world around us flounders in economic chaos, the United States' economy continues to drive forward, largely due to this success. Now we are casting to the wind the same common sense planning--and if I might add, conservative policies--which eliminated the budget deficit and created the budget surplus. Six weeks away from the election we are voting on tax cuts, many of which I admittedly support and would like to see enacted, even though we can not yet pay for them without taking money needed for saving Social Security. The truth is that we only have a budget surplus today because a surplus exists in the Social Security Trust Fund. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 98% of the budget surplus from 1999 to 2008 will come from the surplus in the Social Security Trust Fund. Only 2% will come from non-Social Security sources. However, this surplus is only temporary. The hordes of retiring 'Baby Boomers' will draw heavily on Social Security, and the Trust Fund will become bankrupt by 2032. The Democratic Substitute to the Republican's so-called 'Save Social Security Act' we are now considering makes a very simple proposal: we set aside 100% of the budget surplus in a special fund to be used solely for keeping the Social Security Trust Fund solvent until a long term solution can be found.”