Clinton/Gore '96





PRESS RELEASE
October 31, 1996

STATEMENT BY JOE LOCKHART
NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY

President Clinton has proposed a common ground, balanced budget plan that would extend the Medicare trust fund 10 years, providing enough time for a bipartisan process to address Medicare’s long-term solvency.

In contrast to this responsible approach, the Dole/Gingrich 1995 budget would have cut Medicare by $270 billion, placed a higher burden on providers and beneficiaries, and put hundreds of the nation’s most vulnerable hospitals at risk. Elderly couples would have paid $1,700 in higher Medicare premiums by 2002. Bob Dole’s current $548 billion risky tax scheme would double the bet -- jeopardizing Medicare in the short term -- and throwing a wrecking ball at Medicare long before bipartisan solutions could be reached.

President Clinton believes Medicare should be built up as it’s fixed, not torn down for risky tax cuts.

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Paid for by Clinton/Gore ’96 General Election Committee, Inc.