Kent Conrad: “I do not believe entitlement reform is ever going to happen--long-term entitlement reform--in a 5-year budget…”

“I do not believe entitlement reform is ever going to happen--long-term entitlement reform--in a 5-year budget resolution. I think the only way we are going to get entitlement reform is a bipartisan effort, and that is what Senator Gregg, the ranking Republican, and I have offered, which is a task force of 16 members, equally divided, Republicans and Democrats, to come up with a long-term plan. I would be very candid. I think the truth is, it is going to require more revenue. Again, I would say before any tax increase, the first place I would look are these places where people are not paying what they legitimately owe when the vast majority of us do. Now, I must say, I used to be a tax commissioner. I was the elected tax commissioner of my State. I was chairman for several terms of the Multistate Tax Commission. Senator Dorgan and I are probably the only ones who have audited the books and records of companies and individuals. I can tell you, there is loads of money out there. One reason I was elected to the U.S. Senate is I found for my State lots of money that was not being paid over to the State of North Dakota because people were fudging. Large companies were fudging. Senator Dorgan and I in part made our reputations by going after them and very successfully collecting money from taxpayers who were not paying what they legitimately owed.”