Mike Thompson: “But the basic question to me, fundamentally, is whether or not we have a very, very serious problem that is going to…”

“But the basic question to me, fundamentally, is whether or not we have a very, very serious problem that is going to turn into a catastrophic problem down the road or whether or not this is overblown; whether or not the entitlements commission, for example, the bipartisan commission headed by two very distinguished Senators, one from each party, whether or not they are wrong when they say in the year 2020 that a handful of programs and the interest on the debt is going to run us out of money and we are not going to have enough money for national defense, infrastructure, research and development, and all these other things. Whether or not the President, as I understand it, is wrong when his own projections show that around about 1998, even though we have made some progress in recent years with a massive tax increase--we cannot have one of those every time we want to make a little progress, in my estimation; anyway I will not argue you that point now--but the President's own figures show that the deficits skyrocket. One of my colleagues used this chart. If we do not balance the budget, deficits will grow to more than 18 percent of GDP by 2030.”