Mark Neumann: “That is an important part of the CATS budget. It spends less and it can provide more tax relief. It also provides more…”

“That is an important part of the CATS budget. It spends less and it can provide more tax relief. It also provides more money set aside to preserve and protect Social Security than any of the other three budgets under consideration out here. We actually set aside all of the money that is coming in above and beyond what we are actually paying back out to seniors in benefits. We should be very clear on this. Right now, today, with us baby boomers still in the work force, there is more money coming in for Social Security than what we are actually paying back out to our senior citizens in benefits. Today the government takes that money and spends it on other government programs and puts IOUs in the trust fund. Under the CATS budget, that extra cash that is coming in for Social Security this year, over and above what is being paid back out to seniors, actually gets set aside in real money. We buy negotiable Treasury bonds and put them into the Social Security trust fund. It is very different than any other proposal out here at this time. It is really the right way to make sure that my mother's Social Security is safe in the near term. We hear a lot of people talking about Social Security post 2030. The real problem in Social Security is not 2030, it is 2012. In 2012, we have more money going out to seniors in benefits. That is when the baby boom generation reaches retirement, and there are a lot of us racing towards retirement.”