63 pickup over democrats, we ll have that opportunity to show how we will govern. right now, we continue to be shut out of every discussion that takes place and they continue to run it like they did that got them in trouble. wait a minute. i ve got to disagree a little bit on that. the commission we re talking about was chaired by ear skin boel, chief of staff in a democratic presidency, and simpson, one of the conserve tich are manies out there, and just today, judd gregg said he was for it. so a bipartisan commission. we ve had several weeks now. the ideas have been out there. which pieces of it do you not support? they talk about raising the social security age in terms of benefits. for that or against it? eliot, look, i think you have to take it all in context here. and say, what will move us forward? there are other proposals out there as well with all due respect, you
treaty. we should be upset if the senate doesn t ratify this treaty because on balance it s in our interest on nuclear grounds, on u.s./russia grounds and also on the grounds we as a major power ought to be reliable. you wrote an article in foreign affairs that looks what the is perhaps the lingering day-by-day crisis of debt. that is destroying our capacity to run the sort of foreign policy we want. does the debt commission, the bowles/simpson commission, address your concerns in a satisfactory way? the short answer s no despite my respect for what they ve done. i think they did themselves a disservice. they haven t yet sold america on the need to do something about the deficit and the debt. if i had been in their shoe, i would have spent several months simply explaining the scale of the problem and why it matters. i would not have rushed to talk about this tax cut or tax increase or this spending cut or what have you. but they ve done that. i think what they ve done that s good i
the bowles/simpson commission. if we put everything on the table and respect the basic programs, social security and medicare, that people count on for retirement. all right. let me pin you down on medicare since you brought it up again. could you see supporting raising the retirement age no. or means testing benefits? no, let me tell you then where are the savings. you say you don t want to break a promise. the reality is it s not sustainability for the future for american people, is that not true? david, saying to people wait two more years for medicare is not a good idea. think how vulnerable people are at that age. maybe they re retired, at this point have no health insurance. medicare is their lifeline to basic health care protection, and i think the house republican budget went too far. we don t want to go that far. all right. senator graham, let me get back to this other point, which is what we re seeing going on in the eurozone right now, potential default.
the type of bipartisan tax reform that the bowles/simpson commission called for. that suggests you bring down the deficit. here is the president talking about the need to tax more of the rich. tax the rich more. let s listen. some will argue we should not even consider ever, ever in taxes, even if only on the most wealthy americans. it s just an article of faith to them. i say that at a time when the tax burden on the wealthy is at its lowest level in half a century, the most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more. i don t need another tax cut. warren buffett doesn t need another tax cut. and here s the thing. i believe most wealthy americans would agree with me. they want to give back to their