Budget Director Richard Darman is correct. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski`s plan to cut the federal budget deficit is courageous. It takes a lot of courage to say to retired American seniors that they should find another way to finance their daily living costs in the face of ongoing inflation without a Social Security cost-of-living allowance.
It would take more courage for Mr. Rostenkowski to say to all members of Congress and highly paid government employees, ”Let us set an example; let us all take a 15-25 percent pay cut and also reduce our future pension benefits by 15-25 percent. After all, we are earning a great deal more than most of those retirees that we are asking to bear a large portion of our deficit reduction plans.”
He stated that the plan had an appeal in that it called for sacrifices from everyone. What an exemplary sacrifice that would be! It won`t help some people who will be hard pressed to keep bread on the table or to pay ever-increasing property taxes, but it would be some consolation knowing that he had to substitute a rib steak for filet mignon.
How really courageous is Mr. Rostenkowski? Listen to the voice of the people.
