Political Quotes

“Let me thank my colleague from New York for his statement about the challenges we face. I have been involved for over 1\1/2\ years in deficit reduction talks on a bipartisan basis with the Bowles- Simpson Commission, the Gang of 6, now the Gang of 38--I believe was the last number of Democratic and Republican Senators who have publicly stated they are willing to move forward in a process based on the principles of the Bowles-Simpson Commission. At a time when most Americans have given up hope that Congress will ever work on a bipartisan basis to solve our problems, I hope our effort will be viewed as positive and helpful to the supercommittee's work. We are doing everything we can to make sure they are successful and they have a very difficult assignment and a difficult timetable. In the meantime, though, I understand, as the Senator from New York, my colleague who spoke earlier, that if we are serious about deficit reduction, it not only must involve cuts in spending, but it also must involve revenue and a serious look at the future of entitlement programs. Currently, Social Security untouched will pay every promised benefit for the next 25 years with a cost-of-living adjustment; then it runs into trouble--a 22 percent cut in benefits, if we don't do something. The same cannot be said for Medicare. As strong as it is, as important as it is, it has about 12 years of solvency before we have to do something significant.…”