Paul Sarbanes Quotes

President Bush is manufacturing a crisis by suggesting that Social Security is in imminent danger. It is not.

I know that plenty of folks have issues with Social Security, but I'd urge them to confront it on its own terms. Calling it a Ponzi scheme is misleading and does more to cloud the issue than it does to illuminate it. And yes, I do know that unless changes are made, the current system is unsustainable. But that doesn't mean it's fraud.

We do ourselves a disservice when some of us cave to the myth that Social Security somehow drives the deficit.

It's hard to exaggerate the importance of preserving the financial integrity of Social Security.

I was very concerned that President Bush is still trying to frighten or scare the American people with respect to the condition of the Social Security system.

Unless we get entitlement costs under control, Social Security will inevitably square off against national security.

If you can't even acknowledge that you have to fix Social Security, that's not a very good starting point.

The true enemies of Social Security and Medicare are those who defend an imploding status quo.

And in terms of entitlement reforms, we have to save them from themselves, because if we don't reform social security and we don't reform Medicare, they're going to actually implode.

Medicaid is essentially bankrupt, Medicare is essentially bankrupt, why the heck would we give the federal government another entitlement program to manage?

Despite the state of denial exhibited by most Democrats, Americans all across the nation acknowledge that changes are necessary to preserve Social Security for today's younger workers.

I do not believe that the Social Security system is in crisis.

Because Social Security has not contributed to our debt, Americans should be skeptical of any politician who says that benefits Americans have earned must be reduced in order to address our national debt.

While it is clear that we need to make some adjustments to protect Social Security for the long term, it is disingenuous to say that the trust fund is facing a crisis.

We will keep the promise of Social Security by taking the responsible steps to strengthen it - not by turning it over to Wall Street.

One poll shows that by 61 percent to 29 percent Americans under 40 say that Social Security needs to be fixed.

Spending when the math's not there and the numbers aren't there and if they look in the social security trust fund, it's filled with IOUs because the government's been pilfering it for years on end. We have to do something. We have to start having this discussion.

I do not believe that the Social Security system is in crisis. The Social Security Administration itself recently reported that the system is able to pay full benefits as they are defined today until at least 2042.

I believe that it is irresponsible, it is basically part of the crisis of leadership in D.C. to not look at Social Security and understand that there has got to be a solution posed. We've got to take a look at it and make sure that we create a solution so our seniors aren't left out in the cold.

Our country also hungers for leadership to ensure the long-term survival of our Social Security system. With 70 million baby boomers in this country on the verge of retirement, we need to take action to shore up the system.

All the Social Security Trust Fund Money Is Gone!

The real Social Security crisis is that the government does not have the money to redeem its IOUs.

One of the reasons that Social Security is in so much trouble is that the only funding stream comes from people who get a wage. The people who get wages is declining dramatically. Most of the income in this country is made by people at the top who get dividends and - and capital gains.

The Obama administration's large and sustained increases in debt raise the specter of another financial crisis and large future tax increases, further chilling business investment and job creation.

I think we will begin to see some real efforts made to do things like protecting Social Security and Medicare.