Harry Reid: “The Reid substitute does what is done in virtually every State in the Union. Virtually every State in the Union has a…”

“The Reid substitute does what is done in virtually every State in the Union. Virtually every State in the Union has a balanced budget. We should have one, but we should do it in a reasonable manner. What the Reid substitute does is say, yes, we should have a balanced budget, but we should also have an operating and a capital budget, like the States have. We should also take off the budget Social Security. In effect, in calling for an operating budget and a separate capital budget, we are simply asking the Federal Government to balance its budget the same way that States, families and businesses balance their budgets. That seems reasonable. We all know that balancing the Federal budget, as the Simon-Hatch amendment would have us do, would be devastating to the country.”