Wayne Allard: “I thank the Senator. I certainly don't mind working with him in lining up speakers as they come down. It is important to…”

“I thank the Senator. I certainly don't mind working with him in lining up speakers as they come down. It is important to give Members adequate notice. So, again, only in Washington is a reduction in the rate of growth actually called a cut. The conference report we have before us suggests that we reduce spending by some $40 billion. This is a reduction in the rate of increase over a 5-year period. For too long the Government has been on automatic pilot for mandatory programs. We have done a few things in an attempt to reduce spending in some of the entitlement programs--a very small amount. These entitlement programs are going to continue to grow, at least at the rate of inflation. We have begun to address the rate of spending and brought it down so that the rate of increase will be less. If we look at the total budget, the entitlements take up a large percentage of the budget. Discretionary spending--it gets a lot of attention in the media, I might add--that part of the budget only runs close to 30 percent. Sixty percent or so--better than 60 percent is going into entitlement spending. Mainly, that is Medicare and Medicaid. I was astounded by the figure that Chairman Gregg put out in his comments when he was opening the debate this morning on the Senate floor. He noted that we have $51 trillion in unfunded liability. Much of that is Medicaid and Medicare. This doesn't paint a good picture for my grandkids when they are going to grow up and look at starting a business.…”