social security and gutting medicare, but here s the thing. his right-wing ideas seem moderate compared to most of the republican caucus. he s proposed cutting $60 to $80 billion in the budget, but the republican study committee has its own proposal. it calls for at least $100 billion of cuts immediately and on the way to $2.5 trillion in federal budget cuts overial. let s talk about it a bit more with congresswoman rosa delora of connecticut. first, i want to ask you about a couple lists here. i have a list of the cuts. they are looking to cut pbs, national document for the
social security or raising the age, and that liberal senators talked him out of that. is there any truth to that that you know of? i don t know. i can t believe in the end there is. the problem in this town, ce in. k, as you know, is there are a bunch of people that dress like this that don t know too many seniors that are struggling. they forget that social security, the average social security payment in this country is about $14,000 a year, and an awful lot of americans rely on that for overwhelming amount of their income when they re above 62 or 65. they also don t really know enough people, when they think about raising the retirement age, they don t really know people who are on their feet all day, that work in a factory, that work in a diner, that work as a clerk in a grocery store. they don t know how hard that work is, and how you can t work until you re 70. so to me, and i think to most democrats, and certainly progressives, raising the retirement age, cuts in social securi
pockets of the middle class americans. immediate tax cut they ll reduce the social security payment for every working american out there. this is a compromise. it has some parts of it that bother me. i think the 20 hedge fund managers that made $1 billion each last year that pay only 15% in taxes, that is a problem. but if we have to compromise with republicans so hedge fund managers are protected and the middle class and those below the middle class get money in their pocket and tax break and business incentive and all of those sorts of things we need to do it. it will happen. and bill clinton, who by the way brought us the biggest economic expansion in the last 50 years thinks it s a good thing to do. eric: chip, do you think it s a brilliant deal and what about the appearance? i think it was an odd appearance. you could tell. usually everything in the white house is completely scripted. every step, every word. you can tell even president clinton was put back when he said i have
are concerned about the medicare and social security payment and at times engage in language that is abusive, it is not just a pure caricature of president obama. he didn t say anything there except to say that you have to understand that taxes were cut last year. the american people should know that rather than going on about him as if he is some liberal tax and pender. you know, it is what is striking to me about this is bill clinton now makes a talk in which he talks about this tea party movement so some extent in the context of oklahoma city and how the hot language of that day he felt directly or indirectly gave rise to that. he would have a lot more credibility and so would the others who are complaining about the sharp language coming out of the tea party movement if they ever uttered a peep when the most vicious things were being said, the most astonishing signs were being
people want to cut the size of deficits. i think that is all true and i think that is the mainstream fervor that the tea party is able to capture. there is also a sense and i think bill clinton spoke of this when says he think the tea party people have to speak responsible and be aware of going over the line. when the new york times did a poll and found that tea parties are 20% of the american people this is no way to say they are not citizens, they are some kooky group. it is fair to say they are white male, older people who are concerned about the medicare and social security payment and at times engage in language that is abusive, it is not just a pure caricature of president obama. he didn t say anything there except to say that you have to understand that taxes were cut last year. the american people should know that rather than going on about him as if he is some liberal tax and pender. you know, it is what is striking to me about this is bill clinton now makes a talk