All language subtitles for The West Wing (1999) - S05E12 - Slow News Day (1080p AMZN WEB-DL x265 ImE)_track3_[eng]

Previously on The West Wing:

I'm not sure
I was clear before.

We need to get back
our focus.

Work up a message calendar,
like in the campaigns.

Long term, I'm talking
about something else.

Not articulating the
message, shaping it.

We should discuss it.

Not today.

( rain falling )

( sighs )

...welfare.

( applause )

( applause continues )

And let us raise
the minimum wage,

so that work always pays more
than welfare.

( applause )

( phone ringing )

Oh.
( clattering )

( phone ringing )

Yeah.

TOBY:
Hey.

How much cash on hand
did Gaines have

in the last
FEC filing period?

The Senator?

Gaines, cash on hand.

310K.

Almost nothing.

It's not an election year.

What's unusual about...?

( hangs up phone )

( phone ringing )

This is Charlie.

TOBY:
Hey, what time's

the President's wake-up call
tomorrow?

You mean today?

Tomorrow, today, the next one.

5:45.

I'll make the call.

Excuse me?

I'll make his wake-up call.

You, uh, sleep in.

( clock ticking )

( phone ringing )

PRESIDENT:
Yeah?

TOBY:
Good morning, Mr. President.

Charlie, we're gonna surgically
implant a snooze button.

It won't hurt much.

Uh, it's Toby, sir.

If they're not giving you
enough to do down there...

I know, uh, this sounds crazy

but I think we have two weeks,
a two-week window.

I need to see you alone,
right now,

because if I'm right
about this...

Toby,
what are you talking about?

I think I know how we can save
Social Security.

I think Gaines is leaving
the Senate.

I think he's not going
to run again.

'Cause he only has
$310,000 cash on hand.

Because he's not

raising money.

Because he was
the only Republican

to stand up and applaud
a minimum wage hike

at the State of the Union.

Gaines, breaking ranks

over the AFL-CIO's top issue.

You think he'll announce
his retirement?

Illinois GOP dinner's
in two weeks.

If I'm right, he'll announce
his intentions there.

Always has.
And?

And he's been

a leader
on this for decades.

Chairs the Social Security
Subcommittee.

Get him and a leading Democrat
to agree on a fix,

bring the House guys along,

before anyone knows
he's a lame duck.

This just might be
the break we need.

To save Social Security.

To save Social Security.
Yes, sir.

This is right after
we colonize Ontario.

Let's talk about reality.

More college kids think
they'll see UFOs

than Social Security checks.

But they don't tell you
how many believe in UFOs.

That's the number we
ought to be worried about.

The number of retirees
is going to double.

If we do nothing,
the trust fund will go broke.

One Senator's retirement
means we can save it?

One Senator who's been
the leader on it.

One Senator with the stature
to bring his party along.

One Senator who's never
had a President

willing to meet him halfway.

Republicans will want to divert
a chunk of Social Security

into private investment.

Think Democrats will
go along with that?

I'm not saying
there aren't sticking points.

More like crazy glue.

Think Republicans will
raise payroll taxes?

I think we have to have
the conversation.

I... can't give you
the exact plan yet.

'Cause you can't save
Social Security

without cutting benefits
or raising taxes.

And this is the largest
meeting in Washington

where anyone's
ever admitted it.

When Social Security
goes bankrupt,

are we going to call that
a benefit cut?

Let's talk to Gaines.

If it becomes public
we've even discussed this,

both sides will go crazy.

It'd jeopardize our
whole agenda on the Hill.

( sighs )

What if I do it?

I'll do all
the negotiating.

You'll have total deniability.

No one else
in this building has to know.

Yeah, and if it
blows up, I'm supposed

to pretend we've never met?

We'll always have Paris.

Mr. President,
life expectancy's rising,

the biggest generation
ever

is retiring,
and we don't have the money!

Every year we wait
means we have to cut deeper,

take away more,

till Social Security's
not enough to live on,

till retirement's
a one-way ticket to a flophouse!

We have an opening.

There's 17 ways to fix it.

20 years of blue-ribbon
commissions have told us how.

This isn't
a government program;

it is a moral covenant.

We don't want to be
the administration

that saves it from oblivion?

We don't want that legacy?

Social Security is the third
rail of American politics.

Touch it, and you die.

That's 'cause the third rail's
where all the power is.

Talk to Gaines, but just talk.

And no one else
in this building knows.

Thank you, Mr. President.

C.J.:
We have nothing
to announce today.

No policy,
no summit meetings.

Not even a warm front
meeting up with a cold front.

We've been over this.
We need a hard news announcement

each and every day,
or the press runs amok.

That's Toby's job.

What am I, the White House
Complaint Center?

You run
the policy shops.

Besides,
Toby's avoiding me.

Well, maybe no news
is good news.

No news is very,
very bad news.

If we're not running offense,
we're running defense.

And if we're
playing defense,

then there's some
clever sports analogy

that explains
what happens then.

We're screwed.

That'll do.

I thought we were proposing

that streamlining
of Federal Adoption Law.

DPC says it's not ready,

OMB says it's not
revenue-neutral,

and I'm declaring a war
on all acronyms.

Well, there's got to be
something happening somewhere.

It's a big government.

That time I accused
the Speaker

of welshing on
committee assignments

and had to apologize
to the Welsh people?

Slow news day.

Here's something:

The Argentine Economic Attaché's
meeting at NEC today.

There's your
offensive play.

On... cabbage imports.

Oh. Back to the huddle.

Bring him in,
make it around lunchtime.

We'll find a better
way to feed the beast.

Please, 'cause
the alternative's

that it feeds on us.

GAINES:
Toby!

Senator, could I have a
minute of your time alone?

Okay, you've got it.

I think you're not
running for reelection.

I think that because
you broke ranks,

stood up and applauded
a minimum wage hike

at the State
of the Union,

and because you
barely raised a
dime last quarter.

And?

And I'm offering you
what I think could be

the crowning
achievement
of your career.

You want me to applaud
the President more often.

I want us to try to
save Social Security.

I'll bring the President,

along with a leading Senate
Democrat to the table.

Then we'll simonize
the Hoover Dam?

Well, let's do this first.

You've been good
on this issue.

Your political hacks
in the White House haven't.

This'll be a day
without politics.

Mm-hmm, and here's
how it'll go:

I'll say, "Let's have
personal savings accounts

so, God forbid, people can
invest their own money,"

and Josh Lyman's
hatchet factory will say

I'm trying to turn
Social Security

into stock market bingo.

Everything's on the table.

I'll say, "Let's trim
the cost of living adjustment,"

and they'll haul out
elderly widows

who are getting $740 a month

and say I want them eating
cat food on the street.

Everything is on the table.

I'm asking you
to take one step,

one small step
toward greatness.

You chair the subcommittee.

You're the one who
can deliver House
and Senate Republicans.

Funny, I knew
the perfect Republican

to lead this in the House.

Deeply committed
to reform.

Senator, I...

Jim Carney was his name,

and I think he's in
a different line of work now.

Are you willing to
let the trust fund
go completely broke?

'Cause let's face it,
that'll lead to the...

to the mother of
all tax increases

or the total collapse
of the system.

Is that the legacy
you want to leave?

One step, Senator.

That's all I'm asking.

I'll need a Democrat,

and he better be
a heavyweight.

Hey. The, uh,
Vice President's speech

to the Detroit Economic
Club wasn't half-bad.

Thanks.

What'd you want
to talk about?

It's his, uh,
presentation problem.

I know.

People agree with
everything Russell says...

Until he says it.

That's the greatest sin
in politics,

to be bad on television.

Did you and Toby ever have

presentation problems
with the President?

First campaign,
every speech

was an 18-point plan
for something-or-other.

How'd you
handle that?

We gave him
an 18-point plan

to make his speeches
snappier.

Russell's instinct
is to make fun of his blandness,

salt his speeches
with self-deprecating jokes.

Such as?

"Bob Russell is so dull,

his Secret Service code name
is 'Bob Russell'."

That's not bad.

"Bob Russell's
an inspiration

"to the millions
of Americans

who suffer
from Dutch Elm disease."

Use that,
you're going to have

a Sierra Club problem.

That's where we used it.

Problem is,
telling people you're dull

just removes all doubt.

Russell needs
to confound expectations.

Do something
to really shock
the party faithful.

And I may have something...
about Gaines.

Senator Gaines?

Did Toby meet
with him this morning?

Why?

Polk from The Wall Street
Journal just asked me.

I said I had no idea.

For once in my life,
I was telling the truth.

Yeah, uh, that meeting was...

Yeah, let me get back to you
about Russell.

The code name thing,

that's funny.

How you doing?

( sighs )

( sniffles )

Nobody here talks to me.

I don't think
they like me.

Not really, no.

Come here.

Can you handle
something confidential?

Photocopying,
pulling documents,

answering my private line.

Thank you.

It's grunt work.

I-I won't let you down.

Trained animals could do it.

Mr. Ziegler, I'm honored.

Cut the act, okay?

I'm offering you the chance
to do something real.

I need you to comb through

the Social Security reports
on this table.

Pull and copy every page
with the names

"Gaines" or "Brainerd."

Tell anyone what you're doing,
or even what the topic is,

become any more likable
before this project is over...

( knocking on door )

Is this a bad time to...?

No.

What do you need?

Polk at the Journal

says you met with Gaines?

Yeah, it's nothing.

This wasn't about the tax bill.

Uh... I bumped into him
on the Hill.

If you were
even whispering

about a deal on taxes,
you'd tell me, right?

What do you think?

Our guys don't want a deal.
They're counting

on that issue
for the midterms.

What issues aren't
they counting on?

So the 310K
you called me about...?

It's a coincidence.

Okay.

Donna!

Tell Will I'm coming over
to see him.

What about?

I've got a little surprise
for Senator Gaines.

May not be such
a slow news day, after all.

Mr. Polk, to what do
I owe the pressure.

I need a comment.

Can it wait till
the briefing?

Not really.

The Journal doesn't even
have a bulldog edition.

You might need some
time on this one.

Toby's been meeting
on the Hill.

I want to know if it's
on Social Security.

I'm sure it's not.

A member of Senator Gaine''
staff says it might be.

Do you know how many rounds
we've gone on this issue?

They're just
picking a fight.

In person, obviously,

'cause Gaines met
Toby an hour ago.

This is what I get
on a slow news day--

no bulldog edition,
but plenty...

Plenty of bulldogs.

Check it out, C.J.

Half an hour, Senator.
The Mall's fine.

A reporter from the
Wall Street Journal called.

No press calls today.

He said it was urgent.

I'm sure.

Can I ask you a question?

What?

There's something
I don't understand

about Social Security.

Then you could be
a member of Congress.

All these reports say

it's going broke
if we don't fix it.

But if we all pay into it,

why don't we just get our money
back when we retire?

Your Social Security taxes pay
for today's retirees.

Then why won't
somebody else's taxes

pay for my retirement?

Because when the
Baby Boomers retire,

there'll be only two people
working for every retiree,

down from 42 workers per retiree
when the system started.

Hey, who's James Carney?

Jim. What about him?

He's all over
these reports

and he chaired
the last two commissions.

If Senator Gaines won't
help, could you ask him?

The chickens of our empty roost
are coming home to roost.

Sorry. I've been...

It's been busy.

It's a glacially slow
news day, Toby.

I've had three calls

about staff financial
disclosure forms,

one Freedom of Information
request

to inspect the First Lady's
shoe closet...

Didn't know it
covered insoles.

Now the Wall Street Journal

thinks you and Gaines

are reforming Social Security.

What were you talking about
with Gaines,

his volumetric
ethanol amendment?

You can't tell Leo.

It isn't true, is it?

I need the press
off my trail,

for just a couple of days.

It's close-hold.

Close-hold from Leo?

Okay...

Like your new office.

Has the advantage
of being remote.

It's a nice place to visit,
a wonderful place to park.

Two doors down is the
international date line.

I got the answer to your
Russell conundrum.

Forget the dull jokes.

The real problem in the
Democratic Party these days

is morale, right?

So, Russell

comes out of the gate

as a seltzer-bottle-squirting
partisan, the happy warrior,

the guy who puts the fun
back in Democratic politics.

Fun?

From a guy who needs
a strobe light

to look like he's moving?

Write that down.
Got it.

Did you know
that Gaines raised

an anemic, pathetic
310 grand last quarter?

Does he even have
an opponent yet?

No, but it's a crack
in the plaster,

a chink in the armor.

We're going to have some fun
at his expense.

Okay.

I'm talking about
political theater--

the stuff you do in a campaign
to energize your base,

wake 'em up.

Russell travels
to Gaines' hometown,

puts out a change jar and
stages a mock fund-raiser.

To show Gaines is
so far outside
the mainstream,

that's why he's broke.

He drops a nickel
in the jar for each

of Gaines'
retrograde positions.

Tahitian tax shelters, ka-ching.

Privatizing Social Security.
How'd you...?

Ka-ching.
It's a partisan stunt.

Russell could do one every week.

It fires up the troops,

shows that while the other
side's complacent...

We're ready to throw down.

Little too much fun there.

Sorry.
Slow news day.

Lots of bored
political reporters out there.

TOBY:
Gaines is willing to risk
his career for this.

You just have
to meet him halfway.

Where's the President?

A hundred percent
behind this.

We just have to get you
and Gaines in a room,

hammer out a deal
Democrats can support.

I won't raise
the retirement age.

No, no, no-- we have
to share the pain.

Easy for us to say.

We don't carry sheet metal
for a living.

We don't work hard, physical
jobs like welding, plumbing.

Americans are retiring
in their 60's,

living until their 80's.

FDR didn't intend to pay

for 20 years of shuffleboard.

Tell that to the
sheet metal worker

whose tendons are shot by 55.

Having no
Social Security

works wonders
on the tendons.

You're not worried about
political fallout.

Yes I am, Senator.

But this isn't politics,
it's history,

and there is no easy way
to get in the book.

I'll talk.

No commitments,
but I'll talk.

The guy from
the Argentine Embassy's here.

See if he has anything
we can announce.

You'll want
to ask him yourself.

Ms. Cregg.

This'll have to be
a short meeting.

I knew this wasn't like shooting
fish in a barrel--

not that I've ever shot
fish in a barrel--

but we don't have anything
to announce today

and I thought maybe your
cabbage import penetration talks

would yield...

some, uh...

cabbage...

agreement.

There is no agreement.

There's only mutual respect.

Well, that's not newsworthy,
perhaps, but certainly...

Do you like cabbage?

Not so much, really.

On occasion, I see the appeal.

Been a while since
I've tried it, actually.

You are a... a woman.

And no news there either,

though, at this point,
I'm willing to go with it.

CAROL:
They're waiting
in the Briefing Room.

Thank you.
Thank you, Mister...

Carrio, Carlos Carrio.

Carrio.

Thank you.

Thank you for...

whatever it was that was.

How come you wanted

all that press guidance
on ethanol?

Because I'm about to get
hammered on Social Security.

Silly me.

If I tug my left ear,
create a diversion.

Good afternoon, folks.

I have an important announcement
to make.

In the coming weeks,
the President plans to focus

on raising education standards.

it's a big juicy policy story
no one's written.

Don't all pounce at once.

Chris.
What's new about that?

The President's
laser-beam focus.

MAN:
Which he mentioned in
the State of the Union.

And obviously you'll want
to delve into specifics.

Gordon.

I'm hearing you were going
to propose changes

to federal adoption law.

We hope to announce
them soon,

to streamline the bureaucracy

and find more children
loving homes.

I'm hearing the changes
included a preference
for younger parents.

I haven't reviewed the language.

The Bartlets have
combined age of 111.

What are you suggesting.

Did the first couple kill
the announcement

because they're considering
adopting a baby?

If they're adopting shouldn't
they recuse themselves...?

Polk's got a policy question.

I'm fine.

The Bartlets had nothing to do
with delaying this announcement.

Meaning they're
out of the loop?

Meaning everyone ought to have
the right to adopt--

you, me, the First Couple,
the Dalai Lama

and this briefing
is officially over.

But we don't have any news
to file.

Like a blank page
would kill you.

Polk, follow me.

You didn't
ask your question.

Why share it with the room?

'Cause they like flimsy rumors
and innuendo, too.

I've got a second source.

You'll see how flimsy it is
in tomorrow's Journal.

TOBY:
Brainerd says she'll talk.

No commitments yet,
but she'll talk.

Maybe we can
start a book club.

She's the ranking Democrat
on Finance.

It's a good first step.

I just heard from
two reporters

that Bob Russell and
the Bartlet smear machine

are planning to attack me
on Social Security,

make a circus out of my
fund-raising weakness.

Is that the second step?

I don't know what
you're talking about.

Either you're lying,

or the left hand
doesn't know

what the far-left
hand is doing.

I'm not lying.

You know what
happened to Carney.

He commissioned one
lousy CBO analysis

on raising the retirement age.

I can fix this.

Josh Lyman ran ads with
90-year-olds in hard hats,

working construction:

"the Carney Social
Security plan."

Lost his seat by 11 points.

I'll stop whatever this is.

11 points.

You're not running
this time.

Who said I wasn't running?

I thought it was time
to raise the minimum wage.

You have to trust me.

I don't.

And even if I did
put my neck on the line

with my own party by scaling
back private accounts,

you and your guys would
never give up

your favorite
partisan attack.

We're on the same limb.

The Journal's chasing this,
your staff is leaking it.

They were until
I confirmed it.

You confirmed it?

I told them that
you came to me

and urged me to cut
Social Security.

If they print this, it'll
torpedo any chance of a deal.

Well, now you've got that
limb all to yourself, hmm?

A little tough love's
what those people need.

If that doesn't work,
I'm moving on to
Molotov cocktails.

What's that?
Gordon's
wire story.

"C.J. Cregg Touts
Her Right To Adopt"?

I thought you handled
it beautifully.

Where's Gordon?

Right outside the door.

Thank you.

Let's talk about
your story.

Sure.

Since you've
stumbled onto...

Uh, we can do this on
the record, if you'd like.

Oh.

At a certain point--

I don't know
when, exactly--

the Press Secretary job
just wasn't fulfilling.

Maybe it was...

and then there was
that spiritual vacuum.

Do you ever feel
that in your job?

Uh...
First I thought it was
Western materialism,

then the mantra stopped working,

and are you getting this down?

Oh.
Anyway...

I already got the crib.

I painted one room
pink and another one blue,

'cause I wanted to
live with both,

they're such different
sensibilities.

Now, about
these new adoption laws...

That's the thing,
I don't want to adopt.

I'm looking for a donor.

A donor...?

Uh...

Close the door.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Wait, you're not...

Are you out of your
pencil-ridden brain?

This is the United
States government.

We've got a
$2 trillion budget.

We're the largest creditor,
the largest subcontractor,

lifeblood of the
global economy, with
a nuclear arsenal

that could blow this planet
into 15 billion pieces.

I shouldn't have to
tie you to a chair

and shove a spoon into
your mouth to get you
to write about it!

So, you don't have a crib?

Get out!

( footsteps approaching )

You're a hard man
to reach today.

This is off the record.

Sure.

Don't write your story.

I almost forgot
you were my editor.

I'll give you an exclusive
when this is over.

I'll give you ten,
something big.

Bigger than a fifth
of the federal budget,

bigger than 51 million
monthly checks?

Just so you know, you're going
to ruin me with the party.

You'll ruin us
on 15 different issues.

Gaines is
vulnerable,

so Josh is threatening him

with political attacks
to force a deal.

Good cop/bad cop,
am I right?

You're wrong.

And the arrogance you have
in assuming that...

How about the arrogance

of trying to reform
a $400 billion program

by manhandling Senators
behind closed doors,

with no public debate,

without organized labor,
without the AARP,

without the taxpaying
public having any clue

that they might have to
work longer for less
retirement money?

You also met with Brainerd.

And I'm through
talking off the record.

When are you filing?

Tonight.

Sunshine is the best
disinfectant, Toby.

For germs, maybe.

Not the plague.

NEWSCASTER:
...half the Superfund money
goes to the lawyers, anyway.

It's a super slush fund
for the trial attorneys.

That's right, they're giving it
all right back

to the Democrat Party.

I told you
the 310K wasn't relevant.

I'm making it relevant.

( shuts door )

I don't want it relevant.

Are you dealing on
Social Security?

The Journal says you are.
I went on record denying it.

Stop the stunts.
I've gotten calls

from half a dozen
Democratic Senators
thrilled to see

some signs of political
life in this building.

They're planning to
run on Social Security.

They don't want
it dealt away.

What I'm doing doesn't concern

the political department.

Meaning, it's bad politics.

Meaning, knock it off.

You know, the
electorate's

ten percent older
in the off-years

and more culturally
conservative?

The only two advantages
we have in the midterms

are Social Security

and Medicare.
We take them
off the table,

we got nothing!

There is no table.

Then why do you care

what I do to Gaines?

Uh, Mr. Ziegler,
there's someone...

Uh, you're needed in your office
right away.

Guess what? Tweedle-dumb
and Tweedle-dumber

in the policy shop won't even...

Forget about that.

Forget about it?

I need you to talk
to Toby's researcher
about her clothes.

I thought you didn't want
to play fashion cop.

Go down there.

Talk about pant-suits,

find out what
Toby's working on.

You're asking me
to spy on Toby?

I don't feel
comfortable with that.

I didn't ask if you
felt comfortable.

Toby's negotiating away
our office furniture.
We need to know.

I'm supposed to have...

Makeup tips.
Just...

See what's on her desk.

TOBY:
This isn't a setup.

You're you're surprised
the Wall Street Journal
is exploiting it?

I'm surprised that Gaines
is out, when you said he's in.

I can get Gaines
back onboard.

He said he's out.

The Journal knows
you and I met on this.

I can piece this
back together.

I need you to make
some commitments.

Commitments?

Gaines said
he'd scale back

on private accounts.

What can you
give him?
Nothing.

If it's in the papers,
I was even talking about

raising retirement age,

I'd have the walker brigade
picketing my house.

Slowly.

This could be our one
chance to help them,

and you're going to give it up?

When do we ever get
a deal on this?

When we win back Congress
and do it on Democratic terms.

We've been saying
that for 20 years.

I'm out.

You can keep the hemlock.

We haven't met.

Donna Moss.
I work for Josh.

Rena.

I've, uh...
I've seen you on C-SPAN.

Really? Well, sometimes
they catch us

in the back of
the briefings.

My mom calls me when
she thinks I look tired.

Oh, God, everyone
around here looks tired.

We need to talk
clothes and makeup.

Oh, um... sure.

If you ever want me
to teach you

how to put on makeup,
I'd be happy to.

Thanks.

Mm-hmm.

It's, um... great you get
to use Will's old office.

What're you working on?

Toby works on
so many different things,

it must be hard to keep track.

He always wants to keep Josh
in the loop.

They're so busy.

That's where we come in,
as coordinators.

Collegial coordinators,
you might say.

( sighing ):
You know what?

It's none of my busine...

Don't ever tell anyone
what you're working on.

Just keep doing
what you're doing.

I was tired of everyone
dressing the same, anyway.

I hear the policy
people are giving
Donna a hard time.

Uh, a little bit, yeah.

Don't be too rough.
We just bled 'em dry for
the State of the Union.

Leo, if something's happening
to my job, tell me now.

Don't leave me hanging
out there again.

Hanging out where?

I know Toby's working
on something important.

I hear Social Security.

If it affects
my accordion-like portfolio...

Your accordion's fine.

And obviously, some things
are going to be close-hold.

I just...

I want to do
the politics.

You are.

Okay.

Thanks.

RENA:
What are you looking for?

A Senator who's mute
and only represents
people under 30.

Well, what about,
uh, Jim Carney?

From the research,
it seems like

he's really committed
to this.

Jim Carney was one
of the gutsiest
guys in the House,

loved on both sides
of the aisle.

So?

He used to be
a Republican
House member.

He's not there anymore.

What happened to him?

Josh and I wrote a TV ad
that destroyed his career.

We figured

if we won his seat,
maybe a half-dozen others,

got more Democrats in Congress,

we'd be able to get something
done around here.

( tapping on door )

What's going on, Toby?

Josh is spinning out
conspiracy theories.

I've got the Journal calling me
every ten minutes.

( phone rings )

RENA:
Toby Ziegler's line.

I'm working on
that ethanol thing.

Ethanol.

RENA:
Excuse me.

The President wants you
in the residence.

Thanks.
!
Uh, no, sir.

The President wants Mr. Ziegler
in the residence.

It's just, uh...

I'll find you afterwards.

PRESIDENT:
If they'd only let me wear

leggings for my portrait,
we'd be in business.

Until it shows up
on the Internet.

There you go,
turning your back

on a whole new constituency.

( tapping at door )

Give us a minute,
Charlie.

( half-whispers ):
Nice bags under the eyes
there, Kojak.

I didn't know
Charlie would be here.

I've got five
Democratic Senators

on my call sheet.

Leo's clamoring to know
what this is all about.

What the hell
have you gotten us into?

I lost Gaines,
I lost Brainerd,

and the Wall Street
Journal's running
it tomorrow.

Running what?

That we grabbed the third rail
with both hands?

That we talked
about raising
the retirement age,

maybe privatization...

Damn it, Toby!

Gaines expressed
some interest.

So, you ran with it
when I told you
not to even walk.

What if you talk to Gaines,

let him know you're
personally behind this?

Behind a deal
that doesn't exist?

What if you told him you'll move
on the retirement age?

Maybe I should just call
the Journal.

They can run it right next to
my legislative obituary.

I can't contain this
by myself!

You're going to
contain it now.

There's no way,
Mr. President.

Then find a way.
How?!

By telling the whole party

so they can lay down
on the tracks to stop it?

By telling nine
committee chairs--

probably a whole
dining room set--

that we circumvented
their authority?

The Journal's still
going to file it,

and we still don't have a deal.

Then find a deal.
I tried!

I want this back
in the cardboard box it came in.

I don't want to see you
or talk to you

till that's done.

"No way" is not
an acceptable answer.

"I tried" is no longer
an option.

You started this thing,

and you're going to
damn well finish it,

with either a blue ribbon
or a great big

deafening silence.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Hi.
Hi.

( laughing )

What's that?

Oh, it's just...

some guy
at the Argentine Embassy

who apparently wants
to make me a salad.

Huh.

Sorry about the baby story.

Yeah, it's...
it's okay.

Here we are, senior advisers
to the President,

commissioned officers
of the federal government.

Life's not perfect,
but why does anyone think

we don't live in a world
we construct?

Hmm.

Yeah.

Any luck with Polk?

No.

Okay.

I may have an announcement
for you...

one that'll knock Polk
out of the water.

Saying what?

Let me get the wording straight.

It says here

that before
Social Security,

half of all seniors
died in poverty,

and now,
almost none do.

Yeah.

Must've been a pretty great day
when they passed it.

During the
floor debate,

one Republican called it
"the lash of the dictator."

Another said it would
"enslave workers."

Social Security?

And some on the
far left dismissed it

as a half-measure,
a cop-out,

a way to plug holes in a
dying capitalist system.

Is it-- um... c-can I ask?

What did
the President...?

He wanted me to put this
back in the box.

( sighs )

How do you do that?

By taking the blame for
everything that happened.

( printer whirring )

You're up
to something.

You lied to me about it.

The President won't
say what it is, but
you work for me.

I do.
Tell me what
you're up to.

Tell me why half the caucus
thinks we're squeezing Gaines,

or we have
serious problems.

No problems.

LEO:
There's a reason we have
a chain of command.

So people don't take flyers,

and I don't hand you
their resignations.

I wanted to believe
he could do it.

I wanted to believe
as much as he did.

This isn't Never-
Never Land, sir.

Believing is not enough.

You would've stopped it.

Because it's my job.

It's my life, Leo.

I'm the one
who's accountable--

not in
the morning papers,

not in the Democratic
Cloakroom--

but in 50, a hundred years,

when Tuesday's poll samples
have crumbled into dust.

You can't will
yourself a legacy.

You think there's a room
at the Smithsonian

for guys who never even tried?

You have to accept
Toby's letter.

Five years; I never thought
we'd have secrets.

"Let thy discontents
be thy secrets."

Only if you want 'em

to stay discontents.

C.J. showed me your resignation.

Why didn't you
tell me?

You don't trust me?

I didn't tell you 'cause you
would have body-blocked me.

'Cause it was

a stupid thing to do,
and you knew it.

Don't you want to try
to take back Congress

so we can legislate
on a hundred of our issues?

Spoken like a
true reformer.

I'd like to swim
the English Channel, too.

Takes more
than jumping off a pier.

So, we exploit the hard stuff
till it can't be solved?

That's what we want
to be remembered for?

We do what's possible.

We exploit what's not.

That's how we win elections.

Well, I came up
on losing campaigns.

And every time I lost,

at least I knew
what I went down for.

Carney knew.

What do the losers

get to do about Social Security,

except receive it?

The losers can kick up
enough dirt to keep
the debate going.

Maybe my letter will do that.

Make you a martyr.

Make someone else
pick up the ball.

Inch by inch, we're moving
the line of compromise.

This isn't Sunday school.

It's the world capital
of politics.

I could've told you

Gaines wasn't going to move.

He did.

He said he'd move
on private accounts.

You got the Chairman

of the Social Security
Subcommittee

to move on private accounts?

That's like...
inhaling a baby grand.

( chuckles )

Yeah.

Well, he's out now.

Turner.

What?

Roy Turner.

GAINES:
So you're saying

that you'll ask
the Democrats

to trim benefits
over the next 20 years,

raise the retirement age
over the next 60 years,

and give up on
this issue forever?

If I can tell them
that you'll settle

for small, optional,
private accounts

on top of
Social Security

and raise the income
limit on Social
Security taxes.

We protect FDR's legacy

and admit changes have to be
made to save it.

And what about
political cover?

We call off the stunts.

The DNC won't use this deal

against any Republican
who votes for it.

What are the chances
this passes

the House?
A lot of Republicans

would like to end
the demagoguery on this issue.

They'll be grateful that
you approached me with a deal.

Actually, to sell
this to Democrats,

I have to say you
approached me first.

GAINES:
No, that's a deal-breaker
for me.

If it looks like
a Democratic setup...

I can't look like a fig leaf
for some risky scheme

to shred
Social Security.

We're saving it,
not shredding it.

So you can drive a wedge
into private accounts?

GAINES:
So you'd like to see it
go into bankruptcy?

LEO:
Closest we've been to a deal

in 20 years,
and it breaks down

over who
he approached first?

Well, if he
approached the
Republicans

he's a right-wing
sellout.

If he approached
the Democrats,

he's a fire-
breathing partisan.

Hard enough caving on principle
without looking like

you're caving
on principle.

And we have a little problem
called the Wall Street Journal.

Mm.

We don't take credit.

What?

We don't take credit at all.

It's the only way.

They approached
each other.

Bipartisan down
the line.

No one can say I'm
setting anyone up.

Mr. President,

a victory like this comes along
once in a generation.

JOSH:
We'll have practically
saved the New Deal,

and no one will even know
we were in the room.

We'll know.

And if we don't do this...

( sighs )

If this system collapses--
which is what'll happen--

if we go back to bread lines,

if growing old in America means
growing poor again,

we'll know that, too.

There is no such thing
as an invisible legacy, sir.

You have to know
you'd be giving it away.

All day we've been talking about
my legacy, my portrait,

what's going to be carved
on my tombstone.

Maybe we pay
a little more attention

to what's being rendered,

and the rendering takes care
of itself.

...so it was time for
both parties to come together,

to secure the long-term future
of Social Security.

TURNER:
For years, Social Security

has been the third rail
of politics.

But we are willing
to take the risk,

to set aside our divisions,

and we are hopeful
that House leaders

and President Bartlet
will also do so.

So much for
the Wall Street Journal.

It's a political tsunami.

What did you tell Polk?

That they asked us
to be a part of this,
and we said no.

...but still preserves
the fundamental guarantees

that are at the heart
of this system.
Okay.

So...

what do we do
when Republicans and Democrats

no longer have Social Security
to thrash each other with?

...while making crucial reforms
to keep the program...

We move on to Medicare.

We can't let that happen
to our seniors.

We can't let that happen
to people with disabilities.

We can't let that happen
to the social safety net

that we have labored
as a society to stitch.

COMMENTATOR:
Roy Turner...

Always the slow news days, huh?

...one of the Senate's
leading liberals,

and Steve Gaines,
one of that body's

leading free-market
conservatives,

slaying just about
every sacred cow.

Really sticking their necks out

to fix America's
retirement program.

Still no word on whether
House and Senate leaders

might bring such a plan
to the floor.

But this certainly puts pressure
on the White House,

which has shown no eagerness
to trade away

the Democrats' most potent
political issue

for the next election cycle.

The heat's on
President Bartlet now.

Will he come late
to this reform party?

Judy?