closing loopholes. so i do think a smaller deal is possible, maybe some modest trims to social safety net programs when it comes to wealthier recipients and also spending cuts and also, of course, immigration reform which i think is an area where there can be serious movement. there is momentum for it in the senate and among the establishment republicans in the house. the big question is, will the conservatives, the tea party coalition in the house block it the way they did with so much having to do with the government funding bill and the debt ceiling debate? you know, greg, you heard jake s analysis. i want to know your analysis and the president and his ability to take on his own party on entitlements. maybe you ll be able to scale back the safety net for wealthier americans. will you get real entitlement reforms? can the president take that on? that s tough. two things i say, christine. number one, i think you can t get a big entitlement deal without revenues and the republican
can be serious movement. there is momentum for it in the senate and among the establishment republicans in the house. the big question is, will the conservatives, the tea party coalition in the house block it the way they did with so much having to do with the government funding bill and the debt ceiling debate? you know, greg, you heard jake s analysis is. i want to know your analysis and the president and his ability to take on his own party on entitlements. maybe you ll be able to scale back the safety net for wealthier americans. will you get real entitlement reforms? can the president take that on? that s tough. number one, i think you can t get a big entitlement deal without revenues and the republicans are not going to raise taxes, end of that discussion. number two, i think people probably have to get off this debate about maybe doing something to the social security c.o.l.a., the cost of living
conferences in the middle of the day with this rambunctious group of republicans. it can be a quieter process where they have fewer opportunities to embarrass themselves. it will depend on them being able to articulate a strategy and follow through. that is a big if. there is another big if. that is taxes. you heard durbin bring it up at the start. would they be willing to accept a deal that portrays short term spending increases for long term cuts? do taxes have to be on the table which according to republicans means there is no deal. if taxes have to be on the table for democrats there is no deal to be had here. i think that will be interesting, whether you t%.tttjzcratic party where you have the president saying for the sake of getting this issue taken care of, for the sake of being able to show the country we can strike a deal, i am willing to trade some entitlement reforms in exchange for the sequester. i think khaopbss are looking pret i think
what lindsey graham is proposing is actually cutting into what grandparents across this country are getting. andrea mitchell broke major news on meet the press this morning when she said the current white house posture is no benefit cuts. even if they re looking at other entitlement reforms, it wouldn t cut benefits. we hope that s actually the case. if so we will have a lot of unity among progressives and democrats. if the white house does go after benefits it will cause a big schism on the left. that has been the concern of members of congress awl along. the president would give away too much. you saw harry reid this week essentially saying the same thing. he is not going to engage in a conversation to, you know, cut some of these programs without he also said, look, we re going to look at the revenue side. it seemed to me, perry, it was once again you have lindsey graham kind of backing away from the revenue side. again saying where can we find more cuts. lindsey graham talk
see. if the republicans actually came up with something, they may have to listen. but they haven t come up with something. it is true that president obama in his budget came up with entitlement reforms. nobody talked about that. one is the chained cpi, consume you are consumer price index. a lot of us on the left or the libs say it is not good, but there are people that, such as the president is proposing, that are not looking or talking about it. the president talked about a few things he would like to see addressed now that the shutdown was averted or not averted, but we are back in business for now. that was immigration reform immigration reform was one of the issues. there are other items he wants to get to. will he get to that? or will republicans and democrats continue to have to have this conversation about coming up with a budget and also getting people signed up