Missouri’s junior senator argues for permanent resolutions to the major issues facing Congress and the President before the end of the year. He thinks entitlement programs deserve particular attention.

Congress faces a long list of issues that must be resolved before the much-proclaimed federal financial disaster hits on January first. Senator Blunt has taken to the Senate floor to argue that any solutions should not be stop-gap efforts.

And he says entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security should be part of the package if those programs are to survive. He maintains that any program that is based on the demographics of the general population has to change as the population changes.

Blunt says Senators from both sides of the aisle generally agree that reforms are necessary. He says the goal is not to eliminate them but to make sure they last. He says that requires agreement on revenue and spending issues that provide a balanced approach to job creation.

Congress and the President have a little more than three weeks to figure it all out

AUDIO: Blunt on Senate floor 13:25

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