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We can't be paying pensions to the next generation of federal workers when hardly anyone in the private sector gets them.

What we should be trying to do is to encourage people to establish private retirement accounts and help them take pressure off the Social Security system.

Some government workers are dedicated and work hard, but most of them are just waiting to retire.

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.

Our constituents paid into Social Security, and they want it paid back to them when they retire. Cutting Social Security benefits that Americans have earned should always be a last resort.

I agree that we must expand opportunities for retirement saving, but we must not undermine this worthy effort with a flawed privatization scheme that takes the 'security' out of Social Security.

What's lost in this whole debate, unfortunately, is that Social Security is not a giveaway where we take money to give to other people. It's a contract with the government... that's worked for 75 years. It's the most successful government program that we've ever had.

Everybody wants to help folks out. But we've got a system where you can stay on unemployment for an awfully long time. And I think we need to create a system of decreasing benefits over time to encourage you to get a job.

There are some who start their retirement long before they stop working.

But, at the end of the day, we need to represent the taxpayers who have made enormous sacrifices. Many have lost their jobs. Many of them have seen their companies - they don't have a pension - they have seen their companies cut the match for their 401(k). They have seen their health care benefits be shredded.