Alan Simpson: “It is simply a sense of the Senate that our budget choices should make use of the most accurate measures of inflation…”

“It is simply a sense of the Senate that our budget choices should make use of the most accurate measures of inflation that are available to the Federal Government. Simply that, a proposition that I believe no Senator should disagree with. I believe it will be acceptable to the managers of the budget resolution, but I think a rollcall vote may be appropriate on this at the appropriate time, simply because I believe it is so important that each Senator is on record as recognizing that we have an obligation to use the most accurate data that we have, when billions are at stake. We know that if we overstate inflation, it means that we erroneously pay out extra billions in terms of cost-of-living allowances, COLA's, we fail to properly index our tax brackets, and the deficit is increased by billions--indeed, hundreds of billions, when counting over a decade or more--as a result. This is not a matter of dispute. This amendment, I hasten to say, does not condemn, nor does it enforce, any particular measure of inflation for any particular purpose of the Government. Because of this, I believe it must be approved.”