- WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama says he’s willing to work with Republicans to make changes to entitlement programs, like Social Security and Medicare, that threaten the nation’s fiscal health.
The budget Obama sent to Congress Monday ignores the view of his own deficit commission, which said that entitlement programs must be slashed.
Obama says he will have discussions on entitlements with lawmakers in the next few months.
Obama says he’s confident changes can be made quickly on Social Security in order to avoid slashing payments and making the program stable for this generation and the next.
But he says making changes to Medicare and Medicaid will be more difficult, and said both parties must show they’re serious about tackling the problems.