Bill Clinton: “Well, you tell--first of all, tell them I won't give up the fight. We've just begun the fight. But I think, to be fair…”

“Well, you tell--first of all, tell them I won't give up the fight. We've just begun the fight. But I think, to be fair, the young people of our country are worried about their own future. And it's an amazing time in our country. We've got--just since I've been President, we've brought the deficit down, we've got 7 million new jobs, we've got a record high stock market, we've got a record number of new businesses. But a lot of people, including a lot of young people, are working harder for less. They feel more and more powerless. And so a lot of them think, well, maybe the answer is to turn against everything we've done in the past, turn against programs like Medicare, turn against the elderly, walk away from everything that's been done. And the problem with that is, all they will do is make themselves and their parents and their own future worse. We have to properly analyze what's the matter, and we have to get the kind of change we want. We do need to raise incomes as well as create jobs, just like we need to stabilize the Medicare trust fund. People are living longer and longer, so there are more people drawing Medicare. And the older you are, on balance, the more you use the health care system. So the cost per person goes up as people get over 80, let's say. But the answer is to fix it in a way that won't break it and that won't bankrupt the seniors of this country. And I think it's--you know, I'm glad you mentioned Medicaid. A lot of people think Medicaid is exclusively a program for young, poor people on welfare. And two-thirds of Medicaid money goes to the elderly and disabled. That's what funds the parents of middle class America who have to go into nursing homes, for example. And if you look at the nature of the Medicaid cuts, we're going to see a lot of middle class Americans who will no longer be able to afford to send their kids to college because they'll be paying for their parents in nursing homes if they can afford to do that. So, the answer--I think you ought to tell these young people, we are in a period of change. And we have to change our Government policies to be prepared for the 21st century. But the answer is to enable everybody to make the most of their own lives, not to pit one generation against another or one group of Americans against another. That is a dead loser for this country. That is a really foolish thing to do. It helps a lot of politicians win elections when they can pit people against one another, but it doesn't help the country much. And we have never progressed doing it. You look back in the whole history of America, we have never taken one step forward by pitting one group of Americans against another one, and we never will. [A participant described a recent illness she suffered and explained that she had been very concerned that Medicare would not cover the expenses. She stated that she was fortunate that she had daughters to help provide care for her but that the average older person could not afford the expense of a serious illness and the nursing care required.]”