Kent Conrad: “Typically, we would get it in July or August. We are hearing already from the Congressional Budget Office that they…”

“Typically, we would get it in July or August. We are hearing already from the Congressional Budget Office that they anticipate that the forecast will be somewhat reduced because economic growth is not as strong as was anticipated. That means we will have less revenue than was in the forecast. My colleague and I warned repeatedly that these 10-year forecasts are uncertain. Nobody should be counting on every penny to actually be realized. Some said to us in rejoinder: There is going to even be more money. I remember some of my colleagues on the Budget Committee saying they think the forecast is too low. I hope over time that will be the case. I hope the economy strongly recovers. I hope we have even more revenue. That would be terrific. But I don't think we can base Government policy on that. We certainly can't bet on every dime of the revenue that is in a 10-year forecast. The reason it matters so much is because if we look ahead--these are the years of surpluses we are in now--but, according to the Social Security, what happens, starting in the year 2016, we start to run into deficits in both Medicare and Social Security.”