Q I really want to follow that.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Okay, you can.
Q Lawmakers who attended the retreat last week say they got no indication the President is willing to say to the nation tomorrow night: to fix Social Security, we're going to have to trim benefits; to make the books balanced, we're going to have to do that. You can talk all around it about showing leadership and stuff, but there will be no indication tomorrow night --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I mean, that would offer -- then every story that's written about it today should demonstrate the fact that benefit cuts are in the offing right now, because that's the status quo. The status quo right now says, benefit cuts are necessary. What President Bush will say is, how can we build a better system than the status quo; how can we come together as two parties and say, we recognize that this century, and the retirees of this coming century are much different than the retirees of last century, and that we have to have a different system to achieve the objectives and the intent of Social Security.
So I just don't -- we don't accept the premise that the only acceptance is any proposal that comes forward with benefit cuts. Proposals on the table, the status quo, is benefit cuts or massive tax increases. What the President will say is, there are steps we can take to make it better than the status quo. And he will do that in the speech.
Q You don't accept the premise that benefit cuts --
Q You said that he was going to offer details to move the process forward. What kind of details?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Again, I'm not here to give the speech today. I'm here to give you an indication of where the President is headed.
Q No, no, no; what kind of details?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Again, I don't think there will be any doubt about President Bush's intent on tackling the difficult issues facing Social Security in this speech tomorrow night.
Q Well, what -- you said he'll offer details on how to move the process forward.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That's correct. He will offer details. I will not. (Laughter.)
Q But I'm not asking you for the detail, only some indication as to what kind of details he might have in mind.
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: And that's exactly what he'll talk about tomorrow night, the kind.
Q Legislative details, conceptual details --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Like I said, we're not sending forth legislation tomorrow. And as you know -- as the consultation has gone throughout the last couple weeks, there has been a lot of opinion about how much detail the President should provide. They've been kind of lumped into categories of House says more, Senate says less. I don't think it's that simple. I think there's been a difference of opinion within the two chambers.
And what we have done is taken in that consultation to say, okay, should the President go beyond just the principles he already articulated, or should he come out and put out legislation? I think you'll find that this is definitely a speech that advances the ball when it comes to details, but also he wants to recognize that there are ideas and solutions that members of Congress will have.
And what always happens in this case is that if we were to put out a detailed plan in the first week of January, the Congress says, there he goes again; all he wants to do is cram down his own plan, he doesn't even want to listen to us. As opposed to now or saying, well, he's not leading. He doesn't want to provide details, he wants us to come up with them. He needs -- so there are always going to be those voices in Congress, and he recognizes.
But I think what will be reflected in this speech is that he realizes that in an issue of this nature, that he needs to provide leadership, not only in educating the public, but also showing a way forward. He's going to do that in this speech tomorrow night. There will be details that will continue to be negotiated with the United States Congress. But I think the conclusion drawn by not only members of Congress but the American people is that this President is very serious about this issue, he is putting solutions on the table, and willing to provide the political leadership necessary to get the job done.
Q Will he say how he proposes to replace the money that otherwise would go into Treasury in order to pay for the private accounts?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Again, we will discuss issues relating to not only the -- some details about what he believes the system ought to look like. He will talk about, and the administration will discuss tomorrow, the ramifications of those decisions, how -- why he thinks it will improve our fiscal situation and make it more sound. So we will talk about details.
Q Does the President think that if there is a slowing down of the now scheduled growth in benefits, that that is a benefit cut? Or is the President's view that that somehow is not a benefit cut, even though some people feel it is that way?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I haven't talked to him specifically about that, so I'm not going to get into semantics about that. But there is a recognition that future retirees are being promised benefits that are much higher than what today's retirees are receiving. And he will explain why that happens and what's the nature of that and why these are growing and why there's a -- obviously, a systemic pressure because there's less people paying in to help pay for it.
But he will speak in very clear and direct terms about why we have a problem, why it needs to be discussed now. He understands and welcomes the debate that's happening right now. Some want to say that we really don't have a problem, that it's being over-hyped, that it's just -- this could be easily fixed with just this, that and the other. Obviously disagree, and he thinks the statistics and the numbers back it up, and he's going to lay those out to the American people. And as I said, he will talk about why he thinks a permanent fix is necessary, what the types of decisions will have to be made to make it a permanent fix. Those things will be discussed tomorrow night.
Q Does he -- can I just follow up very briefly -- does he think that if he switches from wage to price indexing, as the second proposal by the commission suggested, that that would amount to a benefit cut?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: That -- I'm not going to get into specific proposals that are on the table.
Q Are we going to hear much at all, if anything, about tax reform or maybe we're going to hear so little as to clearly indicate it's not a priority for this year?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, he'll clearly talk about it. It's something that he's already emphasized to the public and to the Congress, that it's an important priority. I was remiss in not mentioning it in my opening remarks. There's obviously a process underway in which he has a bipartisan panel looking into potential solutions, but he will definitely highlight the issue tomorrow night.
Q As you know, with State of the Union addresses, supporters and allies of the President sometimes lobby the White House to get things included in the State of the Union address. Some of the President's closest supporters -- conservative Christian activists -- have said that they will withhold support on Social Security unless the President begins to aggressively push for an amendment to ban gay marriage. Will the President talk about marriage between a man and a woman? Will he talk about abortion? Will he talk about other issues of concern to conservatives?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, the President believes already that there is broad support for many of the initiatives that he is pushing and that he will be discussing in the State of the Union. The President, in almost every State of the Union, has discussed about issues in which -- the values in which we live by and how do we strengthen the institutions that strengthen our society, not weaken it. And I think you can expect him to make a similar articulation of his views tomorrow night, more than likely including a lot of the issues you discussed. Judges comes to mind, for example, and things like that. So you can expect that tomorrow night, as well.
Q Are details that we're going to hear tomorrow night on Social Security the final details the President is going to offer, or will he elaborate more in the coming weeks?
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I wouldn't say that this is a final. This is a very dynamic process and we're at a very early stage in the process, as well. As you know, the Congress is just getting cranked up for action to happen, both in the House and the Senate. There's a lot of committee work that needs to be done. But based on our consultations with the House and Senate, we believe this is the next logical step, is for the President to flesh out more details. But there will be a lot of discussion and a lot of issues that will have to be continued to be worked on with the Congress. And if that requires at a future date for the President to come out and articulate even more detail, he's definitely willing.
It's not a matter of whether the President wants to or not. This is -- he is fully prepared, at any point in this debate to provide enough details to get it done. But that's the result. He wants to get this legislation passed. And the whole key is, how much -- what will help and what will hurt. What will be inviting to both parties, what won't. And what he's trying to do is to take consultation in, to receive input from both parties, and then come forward at the appropriate time with the amount of detail he thinks will advance the debate, and not stall it. And that's what will be the process that guides him throughout.
Q How upbeat can the President be? As you said, we're in a time of war and we have other issues that we're dealing with, like Social Security and things of that nature. And then, two, will the President be dealing with the issue in the State of the Union address of the increased funding for AIDS in Africa,Asia and the Caribbean --
SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Well, I think, obviously the President is very optimistic about the future of our country and the state of our union, because despite being a nation at war, despite being a nation that's overcome recession, corporate scandals, like I said, terrorist attacks, and having actively fighting terrorists abroad, both in Afghanistan and Iraq and other parts of the world, we are a nation that is seeing growing prosperity here at home, job creation, housing starts are at an all-time high. There's other key indicators showing that our country is moving forward. But they are definitely historic and challenging times we face, and his speech will reflect that, as well.
