Bob Kerrey: “I also point out, Mr. President, since the Senator transitioned into that, that it would put it into actuarial balance…”

“I also point out, Mr. President, since the Senator transitioned into that, that it would put it into actuarial balance for 75 years, there have been a lot of people talking about--well, let's take again this surplus, which is nothing more than an overlevy. Let's be clear, we have taxes higher than they need to be to pay the bills. We have had a lot of folks come down and talk about the gasoline tax. The gasoline tax is higher than is needed to pay all the bills. So we are struggling with this problem here; we have a cap on expenditures. The same thing is true with payroll taxes. They are higher than needed to pay the bills, but because we are using them for other purposes, it doesn't seem to bother us so much. In addition to that, some have been talking about using the surplus without doing what the distinguished Senator has done, which is to say we are going to make Social Security sound. One of the reasons that this is very often confusing is that people think that the only people who are beneficiaries are people who are currently eligible, which are the 37 million or so currently eligible. That is not true. Everybody effectively who is alive in America today is a beneficiary.”