According to the non-partisan group No Labels, recently uncovered video of then-candidate Barack Obama shows the president promising to leave everything on the table with regards to Social Security reform.
During an interview on May 27, 2007, with ABC’s “This Week,” Obama said, “Everything should be on the table (with Social Security). I think we should approach it the same way Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan did in 1983. They came together.”
No Labels co-founder Lisa Borders responded this way: “Then-presidential candidate Barack Obama had it right, everything must be on the table if we’re to solve our short-term and long-term fiscal crisis. It’s time to honor that pledge. Entitlement reform is an important step to restoring the nation’s long-term fiscal health.”
No Labels also blasted New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer for his ridiculous statement last week that Social Security has a separate place – off the table – where it is not included in any short-term or long-term budget plans.
In response, another No Labels co-founder, David Walker, a former U.S. Comptroller General, said that Schumer is trying to avoid the “serious, open and responsible debate” on the budget that Americans deserve.
Walker added this: “Everyone has his or her own set of priorities, but we face an unprecedented fiscal challenge that threatens America’s position in the world and our standard of living at home. We can’t close the deficit and avoid unsustainable debt burdens if we put large chunks of the budget off limits from scrutiny. We can’t negotiate and get a balanced solution if each side comes to the table with their own preconditions.”
No Labels, as the members describe themselves, is a group dedicated to calling out leaders who refuse to work together and applauding officials who are willing to put their labels aside to do what’s best for America.
