Kent Conrad: “The Comptroller General of the United States alerted us that just beyond the 10 years lie massive deficits. We are…”

“The Comptroller General of the United States alerted us that just beyond the 10 years lie massive deficits. We are talking about short-term surpluses, but there are massive deficits to come and we ought to take this window of opportunity to strengthen ourselves for the future. We had four demographers today before the Senate Budget Committee with this same message, telling us that if we would set aside some of these acorns, instead of using them all, consuming them all in a tax cut or spending--but, instead use some of it to pay down this long-term debt and address this long-term demographic time bomb, the retirement of the baby boom generation--that we will have a much stronger economy in the future. It is really a message that Senator Sarbanes has delivered so powerfully in the past to the members of the committee. If we are really thinking ahead, we will realize we ought to take some of these funds and invest them for the future to reduce our long-term indebtedness, to expand the pool of savings, to expand the pool of investment, to take pressure off of interest rates, and to have a much bigger economy when the baby boomers start to retire.”