Neither said very much. Entitlements proved the dog that didn't bark. Indeed, they got one line in Obama's address: "In the coming years, we'll be forced to make more tough choices and do much more to address our long-term challenges, from the rising cost of health care that Peter described, which is the single most pressing fiscal challenge we face by far, to the long-term solvency of Social Security." That's it. No announcement of a commission. Medicare and Medicaid weren't even specifically named: They were folded into "health care." (For more on that, see my column today.) The main point of the Summit was the budget. "We do ourselves no favors by hiding the truth about what we spend," Obama said. "In order to address our fiscal crisis, we're going to have to be candid about its scope. And that's why the budget I will introduce later this week will look ahead 10 years, and will include a full and honest accounting of the money we plan to spend and the deficits we will likely incur." That's a shot at Bush and a bit of (expected) news: The White House is moving to a 10-year budget window rather than the traditional 5-year window. My understanding is that health care is a big part of that move: Most of the costs are in the first few years while most of the savings are in the last few years. The 10-year window makes it easier to finance (this is something Max Baucus has alluded to this as well). Anyway, both Obama and Biden's remarks are below the fold. I'm trying to get transcripts of the day's other speeches, as well.
