will kill it, a poison pill so that we have the high ground on taxes and spending? or do we add spending cuts that president obama has been for in the past? let harry reid kill it. but they decided that they could not be stuck out there. barack obama has the bigger podium. and they could not be stuck with him not saying that it was them that had cost 99% of people their tax cut. so sam stein, why don t you just add the social security fix if the president said that he was willing to go for? what s the president going to do, go hold a press conference last night going, i know what i said yesterday on meet the press, but today, i have changed my mind, and the republicans are reckless and irresponsible. he wouldn t have said that. it might not have worked in the last hours of the deal, but it certainly would have worked in the weeks before the deal. and that s the key. young sam stein, wise beyond your years. that s the key. everybody s talking about what was possible last night.
president of the united states on meet the press telling david gregory that yes, he would go ahead and move on a social security fix. it s a small thing, but at least it s a start. you re right. and republicans botched it. they botched it. and you ultimately have to have things that deal with entitlement reform because that s where the money is. part of the reason if not the biggest reason republicans botched this is they ve gotten hurt by their own game, first the sequestration, now a debt ceiling of government by deadline. and what happens is if you play the game of government by deadline, at the last minute, you can find yourself outmaneuvered. and that s what happened this time. you know what i was hoping would happen last night, richard? this is what s so disappointing. now let s talk about the democrats. people wonder why we operate on government by deadline. because harry reid has made the cynical, cynical move of not passing a budget through the united states sena
government. i would be very much opposed to it. shannon: what about raising the amount of income that can be taxed by social security payroll taxes. increasing the amounts eligible for that tax. you have to have a comprehensive social security proposal which address the benefit and the revenue side. that should be in the mix. i m not endorsing what the commission proposal was, clearly that has to be on the table as part of a social security fix so you make that system solvent for the next 50 to 75 years. shannon: strict pay as you go rules. if you propose an entitlement or a tax cut showing in washington that you have a way to pay for it before its passed. absolutely. the problem in washington is we waive pay go every time we try to enforce it. i made 20 different pay go points of order on spending bills that came before the senate as ranking member of the budget committee. every one of them was waived.