Lincoln Chafee: “Social Security is already set. That goes to 67. We did that in 1983. That goes to age 67 in 2025. What we do in this…”

“Social Security is already set. That goes to 67. We did that in 1983. That goes to age 67 in 2025. What we do in this program is to have Medicare conform to that. Mr. President, unless we take these actions, there isn't going to be any Medicare for the future. A lot of people say, ``Do nothing.'' Well, I think that is totally reckless. Other people can say, ``Well, just increase the tax.'' That would mean increasing the tax on Medicare by 250 percent. That is what would be required to increase the payroll tax. It would have to be increased from the current amount of 1.45 percent of payroll to 3.6 percent, which is nearly a threefold increase. So, Mr. President, this is a very wise provision that we did, in a bipartisan manner, in the Finance Committee, and I certainly hope that it will withstand any attacks.”