John Spratt: “Mr. Speaker, the resolution we are about to send to conference does not protect Social Security, and it does not protect…”

“Mr. Speaker, the resolution we are about to send to conference does not protect Social Security, and it does not protect Medicare. It does not extend the life of either program or assure the solvency of either by 1 day. It does not rise to the challenge. Worse still, the enormous tax cuts that it calls for could undercut Social Security and Medicare, especially, Mr. Speaker, if the surpluses projected do not materialize. The tax cuts are locked in: $143 billion the first 5 years, $788 billion the second 5 years, $1.66 trillion the third 5 years. They are a certainty. They are locked in. The surpluses are economists' constructs. They may happen. I hope they do, but they may not. If they do not, what happens? What happens? How do we run the government when we do not have enough income tax and other tax revenues? We spend the payroll tax revenues. The problem with that is that the demand upon the Treasury that this bill will make are greatest at the time when Social Security is in greatest need, between 2009 and 2014 when the war babies begin to retire and baby boomers begin to retire. So this resolution says fix this budget resolution in conference. Save Social Security first, save Medicare as well, and then do tax cuts.”