and small businesses on their but has not yet been forthcoming first $250,000 of income. and what republicans are saying on real entitlement reform. and without the two, there really is no deal. it is, nobody gets that tax i want to come back to taxes. relief unless folks over grover norquist, who will be back in just a minute on our roundtable. he has said pointedly, you $250,000 get the extra four wouldn t have been elected cents on the dollar that they senator had you not signed that were getting compared to the clinton tax rates. pledge not to raise any taxes. and i just don t believe that are you prepared to break the the american people are going to pledge now? i was just elected to the accept the republican position senator 3 1/2 weeks ago with when we need to extend middle claire. class tax cuts and get serious everybody in the state of tennessee that cared about about our long-term deficit reduction. pledges knew that the only pledge i was going to honor is gamesmanship.
is it because there s so much pressure on the left to not reform medicare? i think it s certainly a fight. and i think we have to be careful. we have to make sure i think we can get to means testing fairly easily. some higher co-pays for people who can afford it. as i said before, donald trump may need medication but he doesn t need the government to pay for it. we ve got to get to a point where we are really having people who can afford to pay for their health care, having them take that responsibility. that s the position the president should adopt in your view? i think so. i think aggressive means testing for people who can afford it makes sense as we look at long-term savings in the medicare program. but here s the thing. bob and i both know, he and i are talking and i think we can get a deal through the senate. the question is, i feel almost sorry for john boehner. there is incredible pressure on him from a base of his party that is unreasonable about this, and he s got to
medicare reform. there s a difference in outlook. we believe we have to find savings in medicare. the president did, $760 billion, and we can build on that by trying to modernize the system, reduce costs overall in the system, not simply transfer rising health care costs onto the backs of seniors on medicare. $22,000 median income. that s what the voucher plan did. we believe we can find savings by changing the way we reimburse doctors and hospitals. not by across the board cuts, but by focusing on the value of care, the quality of care, not the volume of care and the quantity of care. one final bottom line question for grover norquist. in this deal, are there new taxes in the end? i know what your position is. but what does reality tell you? this can play out several ways. if we have tv cameras in there, cspan there, if we have seven days of bills these are 24i7k things that obama promised. no, that s not going to
understand what has happened at the pentagon. should these sequester cuts on defense be upheld, senator? david, as much as i love claire, those are not the painful cuts that have to happen. we really have to look at much deeper reforms to the entitlements. and i would say that speaker boehner s biggest problem is not his base. it s having a willing partner on the other side that s really willing to look at these kinds of reforms. and i think that s going to happen. i think there s a possibility anyway. but i don t think it s his base. i think the speaker is frustrated right now because as you ve mentioned, the white house keeps spiking the ball on tax increases for the wealthy. but has not yet been forthcoming on real entitlement reform. and without the two, there really is no deal. i want to come back to taxes. grover norquist, who will be back in just a minute on our roundtable. he has said pointedly, you wouldn t have been elected senator had you not signed that pledge not to
senator 3 1/2 weeks ago with claire. everybody in the state of tennessee that cared about pledges knew that the only pledge i was going to honor is the oath to office. so that s just categorically not true. you will vote to raise taxes if that s what it takes to get a deal? i am not obligated to any pledge other than my oath. i want to solve this problem. and where republicans are today, we can look at a $5 trillion tax increase with nothing on entitlement reforms by just being passive and not but you did sign it in the first place. you understood the importance of getting elected. well, i understood the importance of getting elected the second time. and everyone was fully aware before any votes were cast exactly where i am. before i let you go, i want to bring up susan rice. if she is nominated as secretary of state, you said she has proven to be more of a political operative. will you support her in the end if she is the nominee of the president? i don t think she ll be