More than 1,000 Virginia AARP members joined Senator Warner on a telephone town hall Monday night for a conversation about deficits, Social Security and Medicare.

The Senator offered an update on his efforts to find bipartisan solutions and answered several questions during the call. He reassured the seniors that his discussions within the Senate's so-called Gang of Six have focused on strengthening entitlement programs to confront the fiscal pressures confronting Social Security and Medicare due to an aging population.

Senator Warner says the bipartisan talks have included discussions about phasing-in a gradual increase in the Social Security retirement age for younger workers and applying innovation and transparency to lower Medicare health care costs.

About half-way through the hour-long discussion, the moderator gave 1,000 Virginia AARP members an opportunity to vote on this question:

Should deficit and debt reduction be based on deep budget cuts, increases in tax revenue, or through a combination of both?

Sixty-three percent of people said a balanced solution should include both spending cuts and tax increases, 21% said it should be achieved by spending cuts alone, and only 16% favored a tax-only solution.

Deborah from Chester, Phyllis from Virginia Beach, both Roger and Caroline from Richmond, James from Culpeper and Shirley from Charles City each asked Senator Warner smart questions. Many callers expressed frustration with the polarizing politics we're seeing in Washington in the current debate over raising the debt limit.

More than 90% of the seniors on the Virginia AARP call said a default on America's debt would have a negative impact on their family finances.

"These issues are as tough as anything I've seen, and my efforts to find bipartisan solutions to our fiscal challenges is the most challenging work I've ever been involved with," Senator Warner told the Virginia seniors. "We cannot put-off these tough choices much longer. Every day that we fail to enact a responsible solution, we add more than $4 billion to our $14 trillion national debt."