Reply #41: White House: No Change In Obama’s Position On Social Security (will NOT 'slash benefits') [View All]

White House: No Change In Obama’s Position On Social Security

The White House is playing down a report that the President is willing to consider cuts to Social Security as part of a deal to raise the debt-ceiling and reduce the nation's long-term deficits.

White House spokesman Jay Carney several times during Wednesday's press briefing criticized a report in the Washington Post, saying the reporter "overwrote" it and questioning the motives of the story's sources.

Insisting the President has not changed his position on whether Social Security should be included in the debt-ceiling negotiations, Carney pointed to Obama's January remarks in the State of the Union that he wants to engage in a bipartisan process to strengthen Social Security in a "balanced way" that preserves the promise of the program and does not "slash benefits."

Obama wants to create a dialogue "where every participant feels that he or she can bring to the room issues that they think are important," Carney said. "That doesn't mean that the President's position has changed at all."

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/07/the-white-house-is-playing.php?ref=fpblg