Town Hall Debate - Entitlements: Would you give Congress ...

MR. BROKAW: (Laughs.) There are lots of issues that we're going

to be dealing with here tonight.

SEN. OBAMA: Let's go.

MR. BROKAW: And we have a question from Langdon (sp) in Ballston

Spa, New York, and that's about huge unfunded obligations for Social

Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs that will soon eat

up all the revenue that's in place and then go into a deficit

position.

Since the rules are pretty loose here, I'm going to add my own to

this one. Instead of having a discussion, let me just ask you, as a

coda to that, would you give Congress a date certain to reform Social

Security and Medicare within two years after you take office, because,

in a bipartisan way, everyone agrees that that's a big ticking time

bomb that will eat us up, maybe even more than the mortgage crisis?

SEN. OBAMA: Well, Tom, we're going to have to take on

entitlements, and I think we've got to do it quickly. We're going to

have a lot of work to do, so I can't guarantee that we're going to do

it in the next two years, but I'd like to do it in my first term as

president.

But -- but I think it's important to understand we're not going

solve Social Security and Medicare unless we understand the rest of

our tax policies. And you know, Senator McCain, I think, you know,

the Straight Talk Express lost a wheel on that one. So let's be clear

about my tax plan and Senator McCain's, because we're not going to be

able to deal with entitlements unless we understand the revenues

coming in.

I want to provide a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans -- 95

percent. If you make less than a qua