Tom Coburn: “First of all, the American people should look at the national debt clock. We are doing so well that the debt is going to…”

“First of all, the American people should look at the national debt clock. We are doing so well that the debt is going to rise this year. So if we want to measure whether or not we are balanced and whether we are in surplus, just look at how much debt we are going to leave for our children because it is going to be higher at the end of this year than it was at the end of last year. That is number one. Number two, in 1960, the Federal employee contributions provided 84.8 percent of the benefit outlets. In 1995, that went down to 12.5 percent, and in the next 10 years it is to be below 10 percent, so that the fact is for the benefits as they rise, the Federal employees' share are at a decreasing and decreasing amount. What does that mean? That means that our grandchildren's level and share is at an increasing amount. The point is that we still have a marked differential.”