Tom Coburn: “Let me just summarize, if I can. The whole purpose of talking to the American public about this is it is called…”

“Let me just summarize, if I can. The whole purpose of talking to the American public about this is it is called daylight. Knowledge is powerful. The more Americans know that we are actually taking Social Security money and spending it on something other than Social Security, the more reaction that we are going to get to say, ``Don't do it.'' Because we know not to do it, but the tendency in Washington is to spend money, not conserve your money. The tendency is to think in the short term, not the long term. I want us thinking about our grandchildren, and I want us to ensure that we live up to every commitment that we have made to seniors. We can only do that if we are honest about the problem that faces us. To be dishonest will compound the problem for another generation past this one. Any fix that is going to happen on Social Security cannot be a short-term fix. It has to be a long-term fix. And it has to recognize the reality which is the government cannot continue to take 22 percent of the gross domestic product without holding down growth, holding down opportunity, holding down job creation and holding down capital investment.”