Alan Simpson: “I want to be sure that the American people know that this is not a partisan issue. So, when we say, ``My friends on this…”

“I want to be sure that the American people know that this is not a partisan issue. So, when we say, ``My friends on this side of the aisle,'' the friends on this side of the aisle joined with a remarkable number of friends on the other side of the aisle, a total of 64 of us who really think we ought to do something with the balanced budget amendment and do not feel we are going to do anything to the Social Security trust fund, because we know we cannot do anything to the Social Security trust fund because it is all invested and the money comes out of the general revenue. I guess the debate has to end there. Unless--and I am going to come back to this question. I would like, honestly, an answer. I want to know what--if we are going to use the term ``looting and raiding,'' the American people, I think, are being overly excited by that term. There is no need to use a term like ``looting and raiding,'' because we do not loot or raid. We are putting it where the law requires it to go, and nothing more.”