Cord Byrd: “Mr. President, once again we face the fork in the road. We have faced it before and we took the wrong path--but this…”

“Mr. President, once again we face the fork in the road. We have faced it before and we took the wrong path--but this time we have a signpost. The lesson of recent history is very clear, and we have only to review it to see which way to go. The choices are these: Do we rely on uncertain, 10-year budget forecasts to pass a colossal tax cut, or do we exercise a little caution in case the forecasts prove to be only a mirage, as they have so often proved to be before? If we pass such a tax cut and the surpluses do not materialize, what needs of our citizens may have to be left behind? Let's take Social Security. Currently, 44.8 million older Americans receive Social Security. That is projected to grow to 82.7 million in the year 2030 when the baby boom generation has retired. The ratio of workers to beneficiaries was 42 to 1 in 1945, at the end of World War II. Today, that ratio is 3.4 to 1, and it is projected to fall to 2.1 to 1 in the year 2040. The Social Security trust fund is projected to be exhausted in the year 2037. If we go along with the Bush administration's tax cut, what about our pledge to protect Social Security?”