>> pete peterson is a first- generation american. he is really a case study in the american dream come true. his parents came here from greece and went to nebraska. that put him through the best schools in the country. he's been a cabinet secretary, a ceo of several enterprises but he is now a billionaire. he was one of the founders of the blackstone group that went public. and he's putting his money where his mouth is by creating this peter g. peterson foundation to fight for america's future. >> what is the mission of the foundation? i guess it would be your mission as well. >> to promote federal financial responsibilities. basically, promote more responsibility and accountability today so we can help create more opportunity tomorrow. >> ok. you say that the financial picture of the united states is humorous and does not need just a nip and a tuck. it needs major reconstructive surgery. i want to walk through the three big items. i want to work through social security, taxes, and also health care. because those are the big ones. go

pete peterson who made billions of dollars on wall street has pledged to spend millions of dollars to cut medicare. among other things, mr. peterson funded a movie entitled i owe you u.s. a. just worthless i. o. u's. >> well, senator, it's what i say to my, the children of my friends who tell me that social security won't be there for them. and what i say is the one thing i know and it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that i work for the obama administrati administration, the one thing i know is that social security will always be there for people. our task is to make sure, over the long run are, it remains there. >> isn't it true. these are backed by the u.s. government? >> that is true >> and the social security is the least of the problems we will have to worry about. >> i think that's absolutely correct >> now i'm going to ask you a hard question. i know what your answer is going to be. it's going to be a hard question, on april 16th, 2008, a gentlemen runs for president of the united states. i won't give you you his name. he said, "a propose raise the cap on the payroll

pete peterson who made billions of dollars on wall street has pledged to spend millions of dollars toedicare. among other things, mr. peterson funded a movie entitled i owe you u.s. a. just worthless i. o. u's. >> well, senator, it's what i say to my, the children of my friends who tell me that social security won't be there for them. and what i say is the one thing i know and it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that i work for the obama administrati administration, the one thing i know is that social secuty will always be there for people. our task is t make sure, over the long run ar it remains there. >> isn't it true. these are backed by the u.s. government? >> that is true >> and the social security is thleast of the problems we will have to worry about. >> i think that's absolutely correct >> now i'm going to ask you a hard question. i know what your answer is going to be. it's going to be a hard question, on april 16th, 2008, a gentlemen runs for president of the united states. i won't give you you his name. he said, "a propose raise the cap on the payroll tax. today it

pete peterson has been warning about the risks of the indebtedness of the u.s. consumer and economy at large for many years. now people are listening. the idea has been embraced and is beginning to be seen in actual policy debates between more financial stimulus versus the restraint we know we need to start paying it back. if one day, we have runaway inflation and wake up one day and the u.s. government debt has been downgraded, the question will be whether anyone pointed it out. peterson and others did. the harder question is what it takes to do something about it. it is not just the economy. mike mcconnell has been talking about the threat we face as a society from cyber warfare. it is clear as day that there will be a serious attack. the question is only if we have to wait until that happens to have a response or can we wrap our brains and around the battle will be and is something before the fact. >> if you are reading gogol, you continue to have a broad range of interests. tell us about someone who has those kind of interests and could have followed them in