Karen Thurman: “I want to tell you that when I came to Congress, I told my constituents that I was going to put our house in order by…”

“I want to tell you that when I came to Congress, I told my constituents that I was going to put our house in order by reducing the deficit, providing tax relief and saving Social Security. Well, guess what? We have reduced the deficit, and, last year, we gave tax relief, $95 billion over five years. And do you know what? We gave tax relief that we paid for, the right way, without using the surplus. In my six years, I have rarely seen a bill so inaccurately titled, 'Protect Social Security Account Bill.' Let us get something absolutely straight: What they intend to do is take 10 percent of the total budget surplus, which is nearly all due to the contributions that American workers have invested in Social Security, and use it to fund tax cuts. In return, they will reserve 90 percent of the budget surplus. This is simply irresponsible. Congress does not own the trust fund. The American people, who have paid the taxes into the trust fund, own the trust fund, all of it. Not 90 percent, not 95 percent, not 99 percent, the American people own 100 percent of it. So when you tell the American people that you propose to reserve 90 percent of the surplus, you are in fact robbing them. That is wrong.”