Fiscal Discipline is Key in Coming Years (Sen. Judd Gregg)

The retirement of the Baby Boomers will seriously exacerbate a problem that has been building for years. Now is the time to address the unsustainable shortfall between our expected revenues and the trillions we know we will be spending for federal health and retirement programs. In fact, long-term unfunded liabilities total approximately $66 trillion over the next 75 years.

The task force proposed by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad and I in the Bipartisan Task Force for Responsible Fiscal Action Act (S. 2063) represents a critical first step toward putting the country back on the right fiscal path. This is not simply a Democratic or Republican problem, but one that impacts us all. Therefore, both political parties need to contribute to, and be invested in, the outcome. A bipartisan effort to find solutions, which will be fast-tracked through Congress and guaranteed an up or down vote, is the best approach to ensuring that future generations inherit a government they can afford, not one that will bankrupt them.