Orrin Hatch: “I say to my dear friend and colleague, that would be one of the most tragic errors we could make. To me, that would be…”

“I say to my dear friend and colleague, that would be one of the most tragic errors we could make. To me, that would be almost fiscal insanity. I am not saying anything is purely technical. What I am saying is that the money, not the securities, the money from FICA is commingled with all Treasury funds. Everybody knows that. That is No. 1. No. 2, as to the outyear issue, CRS says in various studies that the present surplus is not enough to fund the needs of the system when the baby boomers retire. That is a reality. No. 3, not including Social Security within the purview of the balanced budget amendment will ultimately hurt that program, because there will not be the same force to reform the program and make sure it works when the baby boomers come on that there may be now, that is included in the unified budget. I might also add, Mr. President, this is very important. This is the highest item in the Federal budget. How can we take it out of the unified Federal budget and not consider it? Yes, we have surpluses for a few years, but then all of a sudden, it goes into deep deficit. Both sides need to be in the full balanced budget if we are going to meet our realities and meet our necessities. The question of the Senator from North Dakota, Senator Dorgan, 'If the balanced budget amendment would truly require a balanced budget, then why will the debt increase,' is, with all due respect, a bit of sophistry.”