Bill Clinton: “Well, I think the--and the structure of Medicare. You know, we can try some experiments, but to fundamentally change the…”

“Well, I think the--and the structure of Medicare. You know, we can try some experiments, but to fundamentally change the structure of Medicare so that it would no longer be a recognizable guarantee for our seniors, I think that is going too far in the direction of just turning it over to insurance companies and other private providers. Whether Medicaid should be a block grant instead of a guarantee from the Nation to our poor and disabled children and to seniors in nursing homes, that's something I think could be deferred to the election. But we can make an 80 percent agreement because I am in favor of letting the States have much more flexibility in the way they run the program. Or some of the environmental aspects of their plan that I do not believe properly belong in that. I don't see why we should cloud this budget agreement with controversial items like whether we should drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Those things are not necessary to balance the budget.”