“I agree with President Bush and Vice President Cheney that the American people need and deserve a tax break, but I want to make sure that we provide a responsible tax cut—one that maintains our current discipline and allows us to preserve Social Security and Medicare and to continue paying down the $5.7 trillion national debt.  

“President Bush’s plan projects that we currently have a $5 trillion dollar budget surplus.  That number includes the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, but I think it’s time for the politicians to keep their hands off of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds.   I believe we should take 50 percent of the surplus without the Medicare and Social Security trust funds and reserve it to pay off the national debt.  It’s not right to let our country’s debt be a drag on our economy and a burden on our children and grandchildren.  I believe that 25 percent of the surplus should go towards important priorities such as modernizing Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit for our seniors and improving our national defense.  And I believe the remaining 25 percent should be returned to the people in the form of tax cut that goes to all families, especially our nation’s working families who need it the most.

“That is what I emphasized to Vice President Cheney, and that is what I believe is the responsible thing to do for our country.”

(From our Nation’s Capitol, this is Mike Ross—your United States Congressman—with another Legislative Update.)