Page 28 - Deficit Problem News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Medicare spending week do have a problem in the economy right now. it's a job creation problem. that is what we're trying to do and everybody is concerned with doing. at the same time we have a deficit problem that makes it more complicated. >> i agree with you. >> we have a jobs problem and deficit problem. >> eric: don't we have a spending problem? >> here is the bottom line. this is math. spending problem or revenue problem. you are saying it's not the spending problem, its revenue problem? >> forget unemployment 7.9% down to 4%. that is whole bunch more people paying taxes and whole bunch ...

To break, do you agree with that? >> i think the single most defiant line in the inaugural address and where he threw the gauntlet down to republicans, we have to look at our long term health care costs, true, you don't really have a deficit problem, you have a health care spending problem. you have to make the choice. this is america, you don't have to choose between the elderly and the next generation. he was really laying down a marker to the republicans when it comes to budget fights, i'm not going to make the cuts necessarily you want. you're right, in the long run, of course, the country...

Taxpayers will have a surprise next april. here is the question, we had the big tax increase, it's significant. the president won, let's face it, he got what he wanted. so, why do we need more revenue? i thought this was going to solve the deficit problem? >> paul, if you look at 2011, irs statistics about 2% of the u.s. households earn $250,000 a year or more. if you took all of their income, you would run the government for less than half a year. all right, there's just no-- >> on every dollar they earn? >> exactly. and there's just not enough money in the rich to pay the bills that we have....

Threat -- these are very bad people, these terrorists. but they don't have the power or threat to destroy us, they can damage individuals and do some hurt. and i think it took the american people a little while to realize this. but they now understand there is no threat of that sort. that doesn't mean we should be weak but it means like we could get by with a lot less. i said that nuclear subs don't defeat terrorists, i wish they did, because we have a lot. and that would be over. i believe that both the republicans and democrats understand. >> a point you made in your article that while the p...

Result in even more savings in the next 10 years. and would solve our deficit problem for a decade. >> mr. bowles, you heard leader mcconnell and his views about the president not leading. had republicans conceded the point on revenue earlier, say, in 2011, could we have had a broader agreement along the lines that you think is necessary? >> oh, we definitely could have had. i think it was, as you said in your opening part, this was the magic moment. this was our opportunity to do something really big, to bring down this deficit and put our fiscal house in order. yes, the president has taken s...