Bill Clinton: “I think it will be done. It's not easy ever to make these kinds of tough decisions. There are $250 billion in budget…”

“I think it will be done. It's not easy ever to make these kinds of tough decisions. There are $250 billion in budget cuts in that bill that affect everything from agriculture to veterans, to Medicare, to virtually all the specific programs in the Government. And there are some tax increases, as is well-known, two-thirds of them on people with incomes above $200,000, three-quarters of them on people with incomes above $100,000. I think it's fair and balanced. And this will bring the deficit down by $500 billion, and it will keep these long-term interest rates coming down, which is what is so necessary if we're going to have reinvestment in our country and rebuild the manufacturing sector and get this economy going again. I think it will pass because, frankly, there isn't another alternative. And those who have tried to fashion other alternatives have come up with programs that hurt the vulnerable in our country and the middle class more and hurt the business economy more. And I think that's why we've had people from companies representing the automakers to high- tech companies in California supporting the program. It's a little-known thing that over half the 100 biggest companies in the country have supported the program, that the labor organizations have supported it, that the home builders organization, a largely Republican group, have supported it because it will bring interest rates down and create jobs and incomes for the American people. Mr. McCarthy. But if it does pass the Senate, and apparently Senator Levin feels you have enough votes, 50 or more votes, it has to go back to the House. It's been changed significantly from the bill approved by the House. We hear the Black Caucus may be falling out of step. Can it pass the entire Congress?”