Obama: No 'Guarantee' of Social Security Checks

If Democrats and Republicans can’t strike a deficit deal, retirees may not get their Social Security checks early next month, says President Obama. “I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven't resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it,” Obama tells CBS News anchor Scott Pelley. What’s more, “this is not just a matter of Social Security checks. These are veterans checks, these are folks on disability and their checks.”

“There are about 70 million checks that go out,” Obama said in the interview, to air tonight. Obama’s remarks come on the heels of Mitch McConnell’s statement that “as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is probably unattainable.” But the Senate minority leader said Republicans would “do the responsible thing” and settle on a deal to prevent default. “I had hoped to do good, but I refuse to do harm,” McConnell said. (More President Obama stories.)