Bill Clinton: “Hello, everybody. Is everyone in here? Well, first, let me say that we're having this Cabinet meeting to discuss the…”

“Hello, everybody. Is everyone in here? Well, first, let me say that we're having this Cabinet meeting to discuss the present status of our budget negotiations and where we are. As I have said all along, I am for balancing the budget in 7 years, but I want to protect the fundamental priorities of the American people and the future of the American people. We can balance a budget in 7 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office, without having dangerously low levels of commitment to Medicare and Medicaid, without having big cuts that undermine our commitments in education and the environment, without raising taxes on working families. Now, that's what the Congress said they wanted. I've got this letter here from Congress, a letter from Congress to the Speaker saying that the budget we submitted in fact balances the budget in 7 years. The differences between these two budgets are now clear. We do not want to fundamentally change the commitment of the Medicare program to the health care of seniors. We do not want to fundamentally change the commitment of the Medicaid program to senior citizens, to poor children, to the disabled. We do not want to adopt a level of investment that makes it certain that we will have to turn our backs on the needs of education or the environment. That is what this is all about. We can even have a modest tax cut for the American people, and for families especially, and balance the budget in 7 years according to the Congressional Budget Office. That's what this letter says. They agree now, so the only differences left between us are ideological differences. And I said in the beginning, let me say again: If the objective is to get a 7-year balanced budget that Congress says is balanced, we can do that. If the objective is to get a modest tax cut, we can do that. If the objective is to dismantle the fundamental American commitments through Medicare and Medicaid or to undermine our obligations in education and the environment, I will not do that. That is basically where it is.”