Earl Pomeroy: “On the point of the gentleman, well made but I take issue with it, that in those years when we ran deficits we…”

“On the point of the gentleman, well made but I take issue with it, that in those years when we ran deficits we transferred money from the general fund, I think a more appropriate way to view what was occurring is trust fund dollars were being spent, dollars from the Social Security trust fund, dollars more appropriately allocated to the Medicare Trust Fund. The majority and minority have found a point of consensus that we do not want anymore to spend the Social Security Trust Fund on anything but Social Security. We believe, therefore, that this certification requirement requiring before that revenue is lost in a given year, there be general fund revenue available to replace it in the Medicare Trust Fund, is the only way that will ensure the solvency of the Medicare Trust Fund without using funds from either the Social Security or Medicare Trust Fund to keep it whole.”