Mike Thompson: “our generation inherited the freest, strongest, most prosperous country in the history of civilization. Within one…”

“our generation inherited the freest, strongest, most prosperous country in the history of civilization. Within one generation, we are changing that. When historians look back and ask the question, ``When did the decline of the United States begin,'' they will point to our generation, because we are the first generation to spend the fortune of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But we are told that we don't need to worry about it because we are in the process of balancing the budget, as evidenced by the President's latest so-called ``balanced budget.'' But when the analysis comes out, we see that we are looking at another $69 billion in deficit, and this so-called ``balanced budget'' is supposed to make all the cuts. But 98 percent of the cuts are in the last 2 years--after the President leaves office. We know that this is a sham. We know that even if, for a nanosecond, we did balance the budget in the year 2002, it would not account for the baby boomers who are going to be retiring in 2010. Can't we look forward for our Nation's future? I support the balanced budget amendment and urge immediate passage.”