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American Morning

President Bush Set to Address Social Security and Medicare

Aired August 21, 2001 - 09:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The economy is also high on President Bush's agenda today. He's going to be talking about the benefits of tax cuts and his plans for bolstering Medicare and Social Security.

Our White House correspondent Major Garrett is with the president. He is in Independence, Missouri, this morning.

Hi, Major.

MAJOR GARRETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

Before we get to the Medicare/Social Security debate, let me just tell you this. Don't be fooled by the dense foliage behind me. I am in fact at Harry Truman High School in Independence, Missouri, so if nothing else, the kids here at Harry Truman High School get high marks for landscaping.

The president will come here to Independence, Missouri, why, to talk about Medicare and Social Security. Kind of going at a Democratic turf. Why is it Democratic turf? Well, President Lyndon Johnson came to Independence, Missouri in 1965 to sign Medicare into law. It was a tribute to President Truman who was the first U.S. president to actually call for a national health care in the United States. When Democrats love to talk about Medicare, this is where they come.

President Bush, a Republican, is here to challenge the Democrats and say, look, my budget, which will be revised ever so slightly tomorrow, will in fact protect Medicare and Social Security. The Democratic National Committee, however, is airing television commercials starting today in a few markets around the country saying the Bush budget, because of the smaller surpluses due to the slowing economy and the Bush tax cut, will, in fact, encroach on trust funds set aside for Medicare and Social Security. The president says absolutely not, Social Security and Medicare are safe. The Democrats are just using scare tactics -- Leon.

HARRIS: Well, Major, concerning this debate over the trust funds here, what do you make of what's going on here? Is this all politics or is there any substance here?

GARRETT: Well, there is a little bit of substance and a whole lot of politics. Here is the part of it that is substantial. House Republicans and even some Senate Republicans have in the past cast votes saying that they want to protect the Medicare trust funds. To do that in the current budget environment you'd need to run a federal surplus of about $200 billion in Washington. That would protect Medicare and Social Security. Those votes are out there. The press releases have already gone out. Democrats are going to use that to say Republicans are now turning back on their words.

What the Bush White House is going to say is, look, in an economy that has had six contractionary quarters of economic growth, a surplus of $160 billion is still very good news and there's nothing to worry about either with Social Security or Medicare -- Leon.

HARRIS: All right, thanks, Major, for the preview. We'll check back with you later on.

And CNN's going to bring you folks the president's speech live next hour at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 7:00 Pacific right here.

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