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He would need to see means testing in medicare, which means higher income folks pay more or get less, would need the retirement age to go up, see a chained cpi, cost of living increase and social security. the president's budget has two of the three, in addition it replaces sequester, protects defense spending from the sequester. there's a lot for republicans to like. the degree of policy difference if you go back as we were saying six months ago, year ago, two years ago, the honest problem is that as the president moves on this stuff, so, too, do the republicans, now the idea from boehner and...

Paid in, just having them get a little bit less if they are still working and have other assets, that is done all throughout europe, the idea that all these social programs that we both respect, they don't have means testing -- >> not respect, love, love. >> the idea they don't have means testing around the world is not accurate. they do. >> from a republican or conservative perspective is that for the president to say he's coming to the table with entitlement reform and it's a middle class tax hike, what does that say about the president's priorities? that's why conservatives are asking why i...

Anybody with any money. we're not going to reform the tax system so it's a fairer system. you guys are going to do that, reason you? that's what you're planning to do, isn't it? just what i just said? >> well, i think if you look at the budget, the ryan budget, it had fundamental entitlement reforms and i think it called for some tax reform and i think part of that entitlement reform includes means testing which means rich people couldn't get the benefits that they were used to getting. i think that's part of this. let me defend greg walden here for a second. his job is to elect republicans. f...

He's proposed means testing, for example, as part of his proposal. but i think it's unrealistic to say, let's not touch those things, because we'll give up a good issue. and we need that issue to win elections. i think at some point you have to stand up and say, let's take a look at the total picture what we need to do for the country moving forward and deal with them. >> i feel like the argument, you're answering my question implicitly by wanting to argue this on policy rather than talking about its political impact. i feel like what the white house must want is a fight with the left, because...

Do we have an acronym? >> i don't have one quick for you. he's a good man, and i'm going to say this on this issue, he's right. but here's the thing, it's very cynical, because the president put it in because republicans asked him to make it part of the deal, and then immediately attack him for it, but i do think if you're going to take a political calculation, you should believe that you're going to be able to sell what is fair, and this is where jonathan and i disagree. this is an unfair strategy. now, means testing the top 25% of income earners, something like that, that strikes people as f...