>> smith: today on "face the nation," the politics of medicare, jobs, and the jopl tornado. this week, democrats won an upset victory in a new york special election. they say it was a direct response to the republican medicare plan. but will democrats get hurt by not having their own proposal? as republicans try to turn the focus to jobs, we'll talk to house majority leader eric cantor. then, we'll hear from the newly elected chairwoman of the democratic party, debbie wasserman shultz. plus this year is now officially the deadliest tornado season since 1950. will the affected states get the help they need from the government as the president gets set to tour the area. we'll get the latest on the devastation in joplin. it's all ahead on "face the nation." captioning sponsored by cbs

"face the nation" with cbs news chief washington correspondent bob schieffer. and now, from washington, substituting for bob schieffer, harry smith. >> smith: good morning and welcome to "face the nation." house majority leader eric cantor is here with us. but today, we're first going to go and get an update on this week's big story-- the joplin tornado, which took 139 lives. and that number is expected to get higher. president obama will be there later today to tour the devastation and speak at a memorial service. i spoke with the governor of missouri just a short while ago. governor, good morning. thank you for taking the time to be with us today. now that it's almost a week since this tornado hit joplin, is it possible to put into words just the scope of the devastation and the human suffering that your city is enduring?

>> well, with the focal point during the early part of the week and all the night last night into work, it has been hard to put into context how deep this destruction is. i think today's memorial service when people have a moment to pause for an hour and pray together and think about this, they'll begin to see the pictures of the hundreds of friends who are gone, the schools that are gone, the fact that it's going to be a long, long pullback for the people of joplin. i feel resolve here. but there's going to be some sad moments here over the next few days. >> smith: we saw an enormous amount of motivation there during the week this week of people trying to put their lives back together again. but this is going to require an enormous amount of federal money. have you gotten an assurance from anyone on the federal level that joplin and missouri will get the money it needs to rebuild? >> well, in my state side to

make whatever match is available i ordered my budget director to put millions aside, $25 million, just to begin the process here so we would have our state match money available. we'll be talking to... i've talked to all the secretaries. the president is in today. we'll make our case. i'm sure it will be an effective case to make sure we get the dollars that other regions have gotten. but quite frankly, really, the healing here has got to start from the soul and the heart. we have to have a commitment to rebuild. it will take a long time. i mean, there's going to be a tremendous amount of potential frustration, a tremendous amount of pain and anguish through this process. i see our role, not just to be the accountant in chief but, more importantly, to be somebody who is working to make sure with each one of these families that have suffered disasters that they get back to it. that school starts again next year on time, that families get back to work, that the folks that are hired here to rebuild this are from this community so we don't lose folks from this area. we're focused on the long haul.

but in the short run today on this very emotional day memorial service with this sort of devastating loss. >> smith: in an era when budget deficit cutting is... seems to be the most important thing that people here are talking about in washington, are you concerned at all that you may not get the money you need in the end of the day to get your town rebuilt? >> i'm confident we'll find the resources to get this done, whatever method it takes. i mean, we've had an unbelievable outpouring of private donations already, and i have a great deal of experience with our federal partners. i fully expect that we will have the resources to rebuild here. the bottom line is i am confident that, you know, when it comes to priorities, when god chooses your town and takes it away from you, then the people of missouri and the people of america are going to do everything within our power to make sure we help rebuild this town. >> smith: governor, we thank you very much for your time today. do appreciate it. joining us now, house majority

leader eric cantor. mr. leader, thanks very much for being here. >> good morning, harry. >> smith: one of the things you said earlier this week is that emergency funding should be offset by cuts to the budget deficit. do you stand by that? >> first of all, harry, i know that america is just stunned by the scope of devastation and loss and the horrific tragedy that the people of joplin and other places across the country really are experiencing this tornado season. so i know our hearts go out to them. and also, we see in the healing process that there is an appropriate federal role. congress will find the money, and it will be offset. we're going to wait for the president to come forward with his recommendations as to the amounts. again, congress will have the money to help begin the rebuilding and the healing process in joplin. >> smith: but will you insist that there is a quid pro quo, that there's a trade? >> harry, when a family is

struck with tragedy, like the family of joplin, you know, they have-- let's say if they had $10,000 set aside to do something else with to buy a new car, to do something else-- and then they were struck with a sick member of the family or something and needed to take that money to apply it to that, that's what they would do. because families don't have unlimited money. and really, neither does the federal government. but there's no question there's a federal role here to play. congress will find the money. it will be offset. until the president comes forward with his recommendation about how much, you know, i know there were plenty of charitable efforts going on now. join joplin.org is a terrific effort on the part of the alliance on aging in missouri. i know all of america wants to join to help people who have been so struck by tragedy. >> smith: let's talk about the special election that took place earlier this week up in new york, the 26th. some people suggested that medicare was in fact the single issue that put the election over in favor of the democrats.

do you believe that's true? >> harry, undeniably, it played some role in the election. but any time you have one side demagoging and frankly accusing the other side in a way that's not factual of trying to reform the program, certainly that's going to influence an electorate. but listen, as far as medicare is concerned, you know, there's a simple choice here-- either we're going to save the program or you let it go bankrupt. in fact, we put forward a program to reform medicare and to save it. but the congressional budget office as well as the trustees of the program itself say it will go bankrupt. the real question... >> smith: in the next decade. >> within next decade. for those 54 and younger in this country, they won't have the medicare that exists today. and it's a fact. so the fact is-- and i know debbie wasserman shultz will be on after me-- i'd ask her, where is their plan? they don't have a plan. we put a plan forward. you know, again it's a question of leadership here.

>> smith: do you and the rest of the republicans in the house stand by the ryan plan, as you all voted for? >> absolutely. i mean, you've seen that. you've seen the vote in the senate. we put forward a plan that saves $6.2 trillion over the ten-year budget window. included in that is a necessary reform to save the entitlement programs. we know... >> smith: but the question becomes, is the voucher the answer? is that the only answer? because if i understand it correctly, i get a voucher and then i have to go out on the marketplace and hope i'm going to get the insurance i need. if that's the case, you're talking about medical rationing. you're talking about going to insurance companies to get what you hope you deserve. >> harry, the reforms that we put forward would apply to everyone 54 and younger. and again, what it does is it reforms the program to ensure it's still there. it is much like what most people have with their employer plan.

that they are, by the employer given the benefit, but then choose from a variety of plans out this that best fit their families' needs. it's an attempt to try and personalize the medicare program to allow seniors to choose. much like they have with the medicare part-d program when it comes to prescription drugs. but we believe very strongly that if we can put in place the kind of reforms necessary in the health care arena to allow for more choice, to allow people to actually choose what's best for them and not have washington do it, that that is the best way to reform. again, i think the point is, harry, the other side has not put forward any plan. >> smith: are you concerned at all that this could turn into a political albatross, though? there are some democrats saying, "yahoo, look where they are. this is where we're going to run on and this could get us the house back." >> again, this is demagoguery. i think it is the typical immediate "medi scare" tactics that the democrats are using again.

i believe the country understands what leadership is. let's look at that medicare program. here are the facts. the facts are 10,000 people a day, new eligible people a day every single day. when you look at the revenues that derive from premiums and taxes, they cover only a little over 50% of the program. that means every single day times 10,000, you are 50% in the hole. >> smith: and the cost of medical care continues to skyrocket. >> right. you cannot survive that. that's a reality. this is what is so striking is that democrats have not put forward any plan whatsoever. it's bankruptcy for them. so i think that the american people are tired of promises being made and not kept. >> smith: let's talk about something else you introduced this week, which was a jobs program. one of the key portions of it was a notion to reduce corporate taxes down to 25%. some people said, well, this sounds like stuff we've heard before.

the "washington post" said... called it "old ideas with fancy new clip art." are these real ideas? is this a real way to put people back to work? >> listen, harry, i was hosting a small business jobs forum in my hometown of richmond last week. i met with a number of small businesses and entrepreneurs. they weren't telling me, "hey, we want something new." they don't really care about that, they care what works. and what they said was that why can't we get a washington that sort of helps us, not hurts us? and the kinds of things that they were asking for were lower the tax rate, try and put some common sense back into the regulatory environment here in washington. make it so that small business can invest again and create jobs. you know, there are too many people out of work in this country. frankly, the economy is not growing enough. and our small business jobs plan is about speaking to the entrepreneurs that we know are the job engine.

the question i would go back to you, just like on the spending issue, republicans have put forward a plan. now, we have also demonstrated again that cutting is just not enough. we've got to grow this economy. we've got a plan. where's theirs? >> smith: let's talk about the cutting. you meet with vice-president joe biden twice a week, several hours each meeting. the rumblings we're hearing from it is that you're actually making progress. have you really isolated a trillion dollars in budget deficit reductions? >> those talks, which actually we've been meeting for i think over three weeks now, they have been, i think, all positive. everything is on the table. we've said, as republicans, we're not going to go for tax increases. i think the administration gets that. but we've also put everything on the table as far as cuts. i can see, yes, we can accomplish well over a trillion dollars in cuts. >> smith: well over a trillion. >> well over a trillion dollars in cuts.

the striking thing is, harry, you get people in the room of different philosophies and persuasions, and i think what we've actually seen is it's easier to find places to cut and to gain efficiencies than the democrats may have thought otherwise. >> smith: is medicare included? >> everything is on the table. everything on the table. as we know, the big drivers in our deficit off in the future are the health care entitlement programs. >> smith: sarah palin is in town this week. she's getting ready to start a bus tour. just in the last couple of days since that was announced, i mean she'll gets a lion's share of the attention. would you like to see her get in this race? >> listen, sarah palin is someone that i think reflects what we republicans believes. that is this country has a choice to make. the country has a choice to make this upcoming election, november '12. that is do we want a country that speaks of more government and higher taxes, or do we want

a country that tilts towards the private sector and says that's where the innovation comes from. that's where the opportunity lies. i think sarah palin, like the other individuals looking at this race who are in this race, believe very strongly that we have to put forward a plan to get that america that we know going again. >> smith: are you satisfied with the candidates who are at least talking about running or have said they're going to run, the republican candidates? >> yes. the candidates that are in the race are serious. they've all said, you know what? washington has not changed as far as the white house is concerned. what we hope to do as republicans in the house is say, "look, we want leadership. we want real leadership. that's why we put forward these plans." in fact, i think our candidates are beginning to embrace the type of things we're doing because we're actually beginning to change the way that this town works. we just need some help in the white house and in the senate. >> smith: do you want michelle bachman to stay in the house or run for president?

>> she is a smart woman and a great american. she's articulate. she's a business woman, an attorney, a tax attorney. she is very qualified to do whatever it is she would like to do. i've had the pleasure of working with her and know she brings a lot to the table. >> smith: mr. leader, we sure appreciate you coming on this morning. >> thank you. >> smith: thank you very much. we'll be back in one minute to hear what the head of the democratic party has to say about all that right when we come back.

>> smith: we turn now to the newly elected chairwoman of the democratic national committee, congresswoman debbie wasserman shultz, who is in ft. lauderdale. good morning. >> good morning, harry. >> smith: so you heard what congressman cantor said about the democratic response to this victory in new york 26. he called it "demagoguery." would you classify it that way, as demagoguery?

>> well, coming from the majority leader, who was part of the architect of the 2010 elections focusing on scaring seniors about what democrats were doing with medicare, he would know. what we're doing is making sure that we can prevent the republicans from ending medicare as we know it. that's what kathy hoechal ran on leading up to her victory this tuesday in new york 26. we need to make sure that we continue to reform medicare in the way that the democrats have done under the affordable care act. the trustees for medicare said that we actually saved... in the affordable care act, we reduced costs by 26%. we made sure that we added eight years of solvency in the affordable care act to medicare and gave us room to sit down at the table, like eric cantor has been with the vice president, to really negotiate long-term reforms. >> smith: but the trustees said just a couple of fridays ago

that this thing could be insolvent in the next decade. doesn't something really dramatic have to happen, and as the congressman suggested, the republicans have a plan. do the democrats have a plan? >> like i said, the republicans have a plan to end medicare as we know it. what they would do is they would take the people who are younger than 55 years old today and tell them, "you know what? you're on your own. go and find private health insurance in the health care insurance market. we're going to throw you to the wolves and allow insurance companies to deny you coverage and drop you for pre-existing conditions. we're going to give you x-amount of dollars and you figure it out." these are people who have paid for their whole life into the system, are counting on that safety net. americans sent a very strong message, not just in new york this week but in jacksonville, florida, last week when they elect add democratic mayor for the first time in 20 years, in a state house race in new hampshire-- the same issue. americans support medicare, and the structure that we have for medicare.

they want us to sit down together and work on some long- term reforms, which is what the republicans and democrats are doing with vice president biden right now. that's the direction we need to go. >> smith: one of your colleagues has suggested that medicare puts the house back in play in 2012. would you go as far as to agree with that? >> well, i think american voters are making it clear that they have seen a preview of what the republicans would do to medicare, do to the direction that this country would go. and they're rejecting it. they're saying they don't like it. so, if republican candidates cling, as my republican colleagues in the house have, to the ryan plan to end medicare, to focusing on tax cuts for the wealthiest, and insisting on that and balancing all the pain that they're imposing on middle class and working families, then i think that democratic candidates for congress and president obama and other democrats up and down the ballot are going to find some success. what we need to do is sit down

together and work on our nation's problems. >> reporter: do you think the tea party is losing some of its appeal? >> i think tea party activists and republican candidates elected to congress by the tea party are finding that governing is hard. and that, you know, it's easy to, you know, to throw bombs and to be incendiary; not so easy to sit down and actually govern. what we need to try to do is what the president called for-- sit down around a table and deal with our long-term issues. and engage in shared sacrifice, harry. we can't do what the republicans want to do, which is pile all the pain in terms of the cuts we need to make to our long-term deficit problems on the backs of people who can least afford it and the middle class, and still preserve tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. americans don't think that's fair. they're sending that signal in elections. >> smith: you got this big new job now. it's very interesting. this presidential election will be upon us before we know it.

the republican presidential field is starting to take shape a little bit. who would you prefer they nominate? >> i'll leave who they nominate to the republicans. we certainly expect that they will have a vigorous primary. and the eventual republican nominee will be battle-tested. we expect it to be a significant election, like every presidential election is. >> smith: the president's approval numbers have improved significantly in the last month or so. but if the unemployment numbers stay the same and the economy doesn't start catching fire, is president obama re-electable? >> well, i think that the president's approval numbers are improving, because americans like the direction he's been taking this country. in my home state of florida... >> smith: his numbers on the economy still aren't good. they're quite bad, quite frankly. >> what americans want us to do is focus on creating jobs and turning the economy around. they don't want us to focus on

an extremely radical social agenda, which is what the republicans have been proposing since they took the majority back in the house. they don't want us to engage in an imbalanced approach to dealing with our long-term deficit reduction needs. both parties, harry, have said, you know, we need about $4 trillion in deficit reduction. what we don't need to be doing, americans have said, is doing that by slashing education, by slashing health care, by ending medicare and hurting seniors. they want us to sit down together and take a balanced approach. and that's what we're pushing for. that's what president obama has been pushing for. and republicans seem to be pushing back against that. americans see it. i think that's reflective in the president's numbers. >> smith: you heard eric cantor say just a couple of minutes ago raising revenue is not going to be part of any package that they're going to agree with. >> (laughing) >> smith: do you feel.... >> at the same time he was saying everything is on the table. >> smith: do you absolutely feel that raising taxes... >> typical? >> smith:... has to be a part of

getting this thing back in sync. >> like i said, both parties under president obama's leadership and the republicans have said, you know, about $4 trillion in deficit reduction is the right number. what we need to sit down around the negotiating table and agree on is there needs to be shared sacrifice. democrats acknowledge, under president obama, you know, he said, look, there's things that we think are important that are going need to be cut, that we can't afford right now. republicans need to make the same sacrifices and they're they don't seem to be willing to do that. >> smith: all right. we're going to leave it at that then. congresswoman debbie wasserman shultz, the brand new newly elected chairwoman of the democratic party. we thank you very much for your time this morning. >> thank you, harry. >> smith: you bet. we'll be right back. hey, did you ever finish last month's invoices?

sadly, no. oh. but i did pick up your dry cleaning and had your shoes shined. well, i made you a reservation at the sushi place around the corner. well, in that case, i better get back to these invoices... which i'll do right after making your favorite pancakes. you know what? i'm going to tidy up your side of the office. i can't hear you because i'm also making you a smoothie. [ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process

so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. requires more than wishful thinking. it requires determination and decisive action. i go to e-trade and get unbiased analyst ratings and 24/7 help from award-winning customer support to take control of my finances and my life. i tap into the power of revolutionary mobile apps. to trade wherever. whenever. life isn't fully experienced sitting idly by. neither is investing. [ birds chirping ] >> smith: welcome back to "face the nation." when i was a kid, we called it "decoration day".

i thought we called it decoration day because we all decorated our bikes with red, white and blue streamers and we'd follow the parade that ran through my hometown. the parade ended at the vfw hall, and the world war ii vets would stand in the parking lot, sharing a laugh and a beer. we knew these were the guys who beat the nazis. these were the guys who fought at guadalcanal. no, we didn't know that decoration day started after the civil war, and that women would go to the graves of union soldiers and, yes, decorate them. decoration day became memorial day, and somewhere along the line, it became the unofficial start of summer. most of those men in the vfw parking lot have passed on. a lot of people didn't want to remember vietnam. today, a lot of people don't want to think about iraq and afghanistan, where more than 6,000 service people have died. we should not let this holiday go by without remembering all of them. thanks for watching "face the nation."

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