with erskine and alan simpson and david cote on simpson-bowles but i also serve with my friend, pete domenici, on a different task force that we called domenici-rivlin, and what i learned from this double experience is, as somebody said earlier, it's the arithmetic that drives the problem. if you have a bipartisan reasonable sensible group looking at what do we do, they come to the same conclusion. we have to reduce the rate of growth of the entitlement programs, especially the health care one, and we have to reform our tax system so that raises more revenue in a better way. those are the keys. so it isn't very complicated. it is doable, and this group is set out to convince the american public and our legislators that we are on a track that can lead to any good, but we have the potential to get off it, to grow the economy and to fix this problem. thank you. >> hi. i'm steven rattner. i think i guess i am the wall street represented here, having spent, i hope that's okay still, having spent -- [laughter] having spent most of last 30 years on wall street let me say couple things from the point

i also served with pete domenici. what i learned from this double experience is, as somebody said earlier, it is the arithmetic that drives the problem. you have a bipartisan reasonable and sensible group looking at what we do, they come to the same conclusion. we have to reduce the rate of growth of entitlement programs, especially the health care ones, and we have to reform our tax system so that it raises more revenue in a better way. those are the key. so it isn't very complicated. it is doable. and this group has set out to convince the american public and our legislators that we are on a track that cannot lead to any good, but we have the potential to get off it to grow the economy and to fix this problem. thank you. >> i am steve ratner. i think i am the wall street representative here, having spent -- i hope that is okay still -- [laughter] having spent most of the last 30 years on wall street. everybody on wall street can do arithmetic. some can do calculus and physics and all that stuff. wall street is a ver

since 1975, ranks sixth on the all-time roll call vote list, most recently passing former senator pete domenici. senator lieu tkpwarbgs who was first -- senator lugar, first elected to the senate two years later in 1976, ranks tenth on the all-time list and most recently passed our former colleague and current occupant of the chair, vice president joe biden. this is not only a remarkable accomplishment of longevity for both men, it's also an opportunity for their colleagues to honor them for their decades of service to the people of indiana and of vermont. senator law had i isn't just a -- senator leahy is also the chairman of the judiciary committee and the senior member of the agriculture and appropriations committee. pat and i got to know each other pretty well, alternating as chairman and ranking member of the foreign operations subcommittee of appropriations for over a decade. somehow he finds time to also be an amateur photographer and to have a blossoming movie career. and i have no doubt he gives most of the credit, of course, to marcelle, his wife, with whom he'll be celebrating a far

erskine and alan simpson and david cody on some symbols -- simpson-bowles also served with my friend pete domenici on a different task force that we call domenici rivlin. what i learned from this double the experience is, as somebody said earlier, it is the arithmetic that drives the problem. if you have a bipartisan reasonable sensible group looking at what do we do, they come to the same conclusion. we have to reduce the rate of growth in the entitlement programs especially the health care once coming and we have to reform our tax system so that it raises more revenue in a better way so those are the key. it isn't very complicated. it is doable, and it is now to convince the american public and our legislators we on a track can lead to any good to grow the economy and to fix this problem. thank you. >> .. believe this is a major life threatening problem for the economy. there are many views about what to do about it. everybody on wall street can do matt and understand how big a problem finance second thing i want to say the financial markets you can like them or not. certainly the trend is in th

now everybody said that, from simpson-bowles to the one i co-chaired with my friend, pete domenici, the it's the arithmetic. >> alice, dave walker. debris you've got to have everything on the table and only try to address the things you talked about. what is realistic to get accomplished in the lame duck session versus being able to tee things up to do more comprehensive things in 2013? >> i think the lame duck session can establish a framework, the kind of framework i just talked about, entitlement reductions in the future, and/or reductions in the rate of growth, rather, and a revamp tax code. now, you're right, you can't do it all quickly, and what will be a very hectic session, no matter who wins the presidential election, but what can be done now, and in the lame duck, is for people to come together from both sides of the aisle and say this is what we want to accomplish to avoid the fiscal cliff, and here's a plan for doing it, by a certain date, march 30, june 30, whatever. we are going to have a plan that congressional committees will bring back a plan that raises this much reven

and i will remind you of a lecture i got from senator pete domenici on a land bill about two years ago. he said, we've always done it that way. and i said, you know what? you're right. and that's why we're in trouble. so the financing mechanism on this bill denies the situation that we're in and charges out over ten years custom user fees to pay for it. no other american business, no other company, no other family gets that kind of luxury at all, especially when they're in debt at 105% of their g.d.p. and if you really look at where we are, the average american, what you can say is that really you're taking in $53,000, you're spending $73,000, and what you actually owe is $380,000. and we can't keep doing that because that's how it would relate to the individual family in this country. and so the objection was not on the bills. there was no lack of effort on my part to reach out and solve this problem before now. and now that the minority leader offers a way to solve the problem on the sanctions for burma, and it's objected to. so not only do we not get to offer amendments in committee