Political Quotes

“I rise today to talk about the need to address entitlement reform as part of the impending fiscal cliff. I am not just going to talk about the macro issue, I am going to talk about specifics on a way that we can at least do one entitlement reform, Social Security, and make a difference for the long-term future of Social Security and the millions of Americans who depend on it and have earned it. It is so important that it be part of the discussion today. So much of our short-term consequences and needs for the fiscal cliff have dominated the discussion. Well, that is okay; we are 1 month away, after all, from dire circumstances. However, we cannot avoid talking about the long term because that is what we have been doing that has caused us to reach a fiscal cliff. We need to look at entitlements. According to Medicare trustees, for instance, Medicare paid $35 billion more to beneficiaries than it took in last year in payroll taxes, and its trust funds will be depleted 12 years from now if we don't act to save Medicare in a responsible way. The other issue that is not being talked about very much at all is Social Security. In 2010 and 2011, Social Security expenditures, the benefits paid to retirees and the disabled, exceeded payroll tax revenue for the first time since 1983. So as a practical matter, we know the Federal Government is borrowing to pay the Social Security needs of today.…”