Only in Washington would they really believe that, because they play games here. Even in Washington where they pretend that that obligation is not there, that debt, that liability, that obligation is there even if they pretend that it is not there. And a matter of fact, if it's done right it'll cost virtually nothing at all. You can do it with the surpluses partially from my generation, through the year 2012. We can convert the past surpluses, which are over half a trillion dollars, turn those from worthless IOUs, into bonds over the next 10 to 15 years.
More growth helps too.
If we make this kind of change we'll get the very kind of change in the economy that helps pay for it, more economic growth, not to mention the kind of growth we'd get with some tax fairness and simplification. So it is affordable to do it, and there are various good, sound ways to do it. So it can be done. It can be done. And a key thing to keep in mind is don't let the old system contaminate the new system.