John B. Breaux: “Social Security has always been referred to as the third rail of politics. I might add that Medicare is probably also a…”

“Social Security has always been referred to as the third rail of politics. I might add that Medicare is probably also a part of that third rail. The theory was that, if you touch it politically, you die. I mean, you can't talk about it because it has always been too controversial with all the groups and organizations around the country that, if you ever tried to change anything in the area of Social Security, people will kill you politically. We are running out of options in 1998. Unless some changes are made, the program is not going to be there. It is not going to exist. I commend Senator Moynihan for his courage and for his intelligence and for his long history of involvement in this particular area, talking about not just what the situation is today, but talking about the future, and is it going to be there for our children and our grandchildren?”