Judd Gregg: “today Gov. George W. Bush set forth some ideas addressing the issue of Social Security. It is my understanding that the…”

“today Gov. George W. Bush set forth some ideas addressing the issue of Social Security. It is my understanding that the Vice President is also going to discuss this issue today, although he has, before today, made a number of comments in this area. I have spent a considerable amount of my time over the last 7 years I have served in the Senate working on the issue of Social Security, working on it in a bipartisan manner, trying to develop a coalition in this Senate to move toward resolution of what I consider to be one of the most significant public policy matters we have confronting us. Let me define the problem so we understand what we are working with and what the concerns are. Today, the Social Security system is running a very aggressive surplus. In other words, it is taking in more money than it is paying out. The Social Security system is on a dollar in/ dollar out basis. In other words, there is no asset value that is placed somewhere. There are not a set of dollars saved to pay your Social Security benefit. The dollar raised today pays the benefit that is incurred today. The younger worker who is paying Social Security taxes today is paying for the older worker who is retired today. We have the baby boom generation working today at its maximum earning capacity, and because we have a larger younger generation than the generation that is retired, we are now running a surplus.…”