debt sieve and fiscal policies. brian: it is budget. the president was saying in the rose garden that he showed some give in that he s looking at social security and he has cuts to medicare. was that a starting point for you, to show this charm offensive is working? i m glad that you mentioned that because that was a step forward by the president. i want to make a point here. we re talking about saving social security and saving medicare. we re not talking about cutting it. we are talking about reforming the way in which they re calculated. but if we do nothing, by 2037, payments will did gown automatically because of depletion of the trust fund. we re trying to save the benefit for our children and grandchildren by reforming the process by which it s determined. brian: i m sure the president wants to save social security as well. when you got into it, you said he was listening the whole time. do you feel like you got through to him that what your objectives are and where the w