Political Quotes

“I might say that many of these people are teachers and firefighters and policemen who pay into their pension systems. They understood the arrangements when they went in and usually pay as much or more than Social Security requires. And for us to now change their system and bring them into Social Security fails on two counts. First, it doesn't solve the Social Security solvency problem. It is worth about 20 percent of the total that we are dealing with. And second, it is going to demolish their own pension plans. So you are going to find these people who are being interrupted into their current employment paying into pension plans who will now either pay more into Social Security and/or less into their pension plans. Is that what we want to achieve? Do we want to take pension plans that people paid into for a lifetime and weaken them? Is that our way to solve the Social Security crisis? I don't think so. I listened to my friends on the Republican side likening the Social Security trust fund to Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and a file cabinet. They may not recall it, but it hasn't been that long ago, 6 or 7 years ago, when we generated surpluses in the Federal budget. The Social Security Program was stronger. We were borrowing less money from it. Since President Bush arrived we have borrowed $800 billion out of the Social Security trust fund. The so-called file cabinet has been very generous to the President when he wanted to finance his tax cuts.…”