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Senator Rubio: We Can’t Seriously Address The Debt Crisis Without Reforming Entitlement Programs

Senator Rubio: “The President has to lead, as I told him today in a meeting we had with the Republican Senators. You can’t tackle major issues without presidential leadership, and I think the President needs to lead on this issue. This is an opportunity for him to show some leadership and say, ‘You know what, we do have a serious spending problem in this country. We’ve got to begin to address it.’ But in order to do that in a meaningful and responsible way, he’s going to have to take on members of his own base.”

Sean Hannity: “So, how long did you meet with him today?”

Senator Rubio: “Well, all 47 Republican Senators were invited to the White House, and we were there for about an hour and fifteen minutes, and there was a good and polite exchange. But the point I made to start out the meeting was that we can’t balance the budget without serious efforts to reform our entitlement programs—reforms that not only save Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid, but reforms that keep them from going bankrupt and keep our country from going bankrupt.”

Hannity: “And what did he say?”

Senator Rubio: “Well, there’s no denying the math of it. I think the problem is once you leave that room—you saw what happened to Paul Ryan—you suggest a solution, and they pile on. We saw a week ago where former Speaker Pelosi was advising other Democrats and activists not to offer a plan, to just beat up on that plan. We’re never going to solve this problem that way.”