Bill Clinton: “Have they? Have they? What I have done--I have done what's important. I have said, we are not going to accept the…”

“Have they? Have they? What I have done--I have done what's important. I have said, we are not going to accept the beneficiary increases that they are. I have said that we can fix the Medicare Trust Fund without requiring the kind of cost increases on these folks that they are recommending to pay for their tax cut. That is a huge change. Secondly, I have said that we don't have to do as much on the provider side into the health care system as they want to do, because I want to balance the budget in 10 years instead of 7. So, any set of options I adopt, they will have to adopt more severe options, which is why they want to go into the August recess with their plan a secret and why they allegedly apparently have plans to come back here and drop this thing out right before the fiscal year begins and allow about 2 days debate on it and then roll it through. Now, I have proved--when I had responsibility for the budget, I did that. We made the Medicare Trust Fund better, with no help, I might add, from them. Not a single vote. We made it better. They denied that there was a problem with the Trust Fund. Then when they won the majority in the Congress, what happened? All of a sudden they discovered this problem in the Trust Fund, and they used it as a pretext to raise costs on Medicare beneficiaries so much so they could pay for the big tax cut they promised and meet the 7-year balanced budget deadline they promised. If you want to talk about--am I willing to work with them on Medicare reform to fix the Medicare Trust Fund? Absolutely, I am. Why did I present a balanced budget and alternative? So I could reach out my hand in good faith to work with them. So far that has not been an option. So far they have been proceeding down their own course. All I'm saying is, I am serving notice that I will not support what they are attempting to do to the seniors. Now, we can fix the Medicare Trust Fund. It doesn't have anything to do with what we've been talking about here today.”