Kent Conrad: “I will not yield. They used an estimate of Medicare expenses in the House that says Medicare is going to rise at the…”

“I will not yield. They used an estimate of Medicare expenses in the House that says Medicare is going to rise at the lowest percentage in the history of the program. Now, how are we ever going to reconcile a 10-year budget in the Senate, which is what the law requires, with a 5-year budget in the House, when we used Congressional Budget Office estimates, which we are supposed to do, and they used Office of Management Budget estimates because it made it easier for them to cover up the raid on Social Security in which they were engaged? That is a fundamental reason that we have passed a budget resolution through the committee and not brought it to the floor because we know we would spend a week of the Senate's time and never be able to reconcile with the House because they have adopted rosy scenario forecasts, and they have adopted a 5-year budget when a 10-year budget is required.”