From last night's debate, the transcript can be found
here.
SEN. CLINTON: -- and then I think we have to have a bipartisan commission. I do not want to fix the problems of Social Security on the backs of middle class families and seniors. (Applause.) If you lift the cap completely, that is a $1 trillion tax increase. I don't think we need to do that.
But I want to say one final word about Medicare. Number one, Medicare should be able to negotiate for lower drug prices. (Applause.)
BLITZER: All right. Thank you, Senator.
SEN. CLINTON: It was a travesty when the Bush administration did not allow that to happen, and I have a lot of other ideas about how we'll preserve and strengthen Medicare.
BLITZER: All right. So Senator -- so you're not ready to accept that raising of the cap on that, but I know that Senator Obama wants to respond to you.
SEN. OBAMA: I will be very brief on this because, Hillary, I've heard you say this is a trillion dollar tax cut [increase] on the middle class by adjusting the cap. Understand that only 6 percent of Americans make more than $97,000 -- (cheers, applause) -- so 6 percent is not the middle class -- it's the upper class.
And you know, this is the kind of thing that I would expect from Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani -- (laughter, boos, cheers, applause) -- where we start playing with numbers -- we start playing with numbers in order to try to make a point. (Cheers, applause.) And we can't do that. No, no, no, no, no. This is -- this is -- this is too important. This is too important for us to pretend that we're using numbers like a trillion dollar tax increase instead of responsibly dealing with a problem that Judy asked for, and she said she wants a specific answer. And that's what I provided.
But understand, this is the top 6 percent, and that is not the middle class. (Cheers, applause.) BLITZER: Senator?
SEN. CLINTON: First of all -- first of all, I think that you meant a tax increase, because that's what it would be. But secondly, it is absolutely the case that there are people who would find that burdensome. I represent firefighters. I represent school supervisors. I'm not talking -- I mean, you know, it's different parts of the country. So you have to look at this across the board, and the numbers are staggering.
Now, when people say be specific, I listened very carefully to what Senator Obama said when he appeared on one of the Sunday morning shows, and he basically said that he was for looking at a lot of different things and using a bipartisan commission to do it. I think that's the right answer. That is where I have been from the very beginning.
That's what worked back in 1983, when we had a real crisis in Social Security. The government got together. President Reagan and Speaker Tip O'Neill put together a bipartisan commission. Then everybody looked at everything at once. It wasn't one person's idea or somebody else's idea. Everybody had to get in a room and say, here's what we're going to do to fix the problem. That's what I want to do because I think that's what will work for America. (Applause.)
SEN. OBAMA: That's --
What is being discussed is a possible solution to Medicare funding in that currently anyone who makes over $97,000 in earned income is exempt from paying payroll taxes on that income above $97,000. This was a nation Maggie Thatcher implemented in the UK as well. So if you make an annual income of $297,000, you pay the same payroll taxes as someone who earns $97,000.
I'd like to know where these firefighters are that make more than $97,000 a year and also would be seriously burdened by having to pay their share of the payroll tax. You want to discuss equity? Why is a dollar made
above $97,000 worth more than a dollar made
under $97,000?
Methinks that Hillary is full of shit.
