He supports setting aside $680 billion from future federal surpluses to cover rising Medicare costs.

Yet Bill Bradley said that future surpluses would pay for his $650 billion, 10-year program of universal health insurance.

Members of Congress should first spell out that some of the future surpluses should not be considered available at all.

New legislation should limit the ability of Congress and the president to tie up future surpluses, especially those that are more than five years away.

However under some accounting regimes, the insurer may not take credit for such future surpluses.

It would not be prudent to commit every penny of a future surplus that is just a projection and therefore subject to change.

- you immediately slice $800 billion off those future surpluses.

The Republicans would return about $800 billion of the future surplus to taxpayers in the form of a tax cut over 10 years.

Later in the year, Harper government indicated that it would automatically transfer future surpluses to the provinces.

If it achieves this status, it will be entitled to keep half of future surpluses.