Lynn N. Rivers: “during the budget hearing the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) made an amazing statement. He said, ``I know that most…”

“during the budget hearing the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) made an amazing statement. He said, ``I know that most Americans, interestingly enough, do not believe that we are actually going to have a balanced budget. We are going to have a balanced budget, but they don't believe it. So not only don't they believe it is going to be balanced, they do not believe there is going to be a surplus.'' Now I call that amazing, not because the public does not trust us, but because the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Kasich) seemed surprised by the fact that the public does not trust us. Balancing the budget and the surplus comes up in my district all the time. My constituents are not confused by the issue at all. They understand that the budget can be called balanced only when one includes the monies from the various trust funds, most notably Social Security. They also understand that when Social Security monies are removed from the mix, the surplus evaporates and the Federal budget is actually in deficit to the tune of nearly $100 billion a year for the indefinite future. The Blue Dog budget operates from the realities that I just mentioned. But this rule deprives the public of the opportunity to hear debate on that proposal. Why do not the folks at home trust us? Maybe it is because of decisions like that. If the chairman is concerned about our credibility out there in the real world, he should reconsider this budget. Why? Well, first, it does not add up.…”