On the recordNovember 29, 2012
let me just say that is not the only thing we could do. We could change the cost of living to the chained consumer price index. That would be OK. It wouldn't get us as much of a deficit reduction over 75 years--a chained CPI--but it would get us at least into a better position if we increased the age rate. I just want to give a note of history. When President Reagan was facing the same issue, and the Senate was one-party dominated and the House the other, he got together with House Speaker Tip O'Neill, and they formed a commission which started the increase in age that we have today because people were living longer and they were working longer. We can do the same thing President Reagan and Tip O'Neill did, because our government is a similar configuration, by coming together and acknowledging that people are living longer and are working longer. We can make accommodations for people who are in particularly physically strenuous jobs. I think all of us understand people in those jobs may not be able to work as long. We can do those things and fix this issue in a responsible way. Let's do it now. One more year is going to make it that much worse. We have added $2.1 trillion to the deficit in just 1 year. We can do this. Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Arizona for giving me the extra 2 minutes to say let's do it now. In fact, the Senator from Arizona has been a cosponsor of my bill to fix Social Security.…
