Roy Cooper: “The gentleman is correct. Our balanced budget amendment would completely protect Social Security so it would not in any…”

“The gentleman is correct. Our balanced budget amendment would completely protect Social Security so it would not in any way be endangered by this. It would also require a three-fifths majority of this House in order to raise the debt limit. So it would really do a lot to control the spending binge we are on. Another key element of the plan is, pay as you go. In other words, this Congress could no longer buy on credit. We would take up the national credit card, cut it up, put it away. Alan Greenspan, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, says this is probably the single most important policy reform we could undertake. Why does he say that? Because we had it for 12 years and it worked brilliantly. We had it in place from 1990 to 2002. And under Republican leadership they let it expire, so the pay-as-you-go principle no longer operates. We need to reinstate PAYGO.”