President Biden has spent the week contrasting Republican and Democratic positions on health care and entitlements — leaning into a fight his party would love to have all the way through the 2024 election.

• Why it matters: How House Republicans handle the coming debt-ceiling negotiations and spending-related decisions could hand Democrats a potent line of attack, Axios' Caitlin Owens writes.

Biden's back-and-forth with Republicans on Medicare and Social Security was one of the most memorable parts of Tuesday's State of the Union.

• He followed up with a speech yesterday at the University of Tampa. He attacked GOP positions related to prescription drugs, the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security — some of Democrats' most comfortable policy arenas.

"I know that a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare," Biden said. "Well let me say this: If that's your dream, I'm your nightmare."

• Biden name-checked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to run to be the GOP's presidential nominee, for choosing not to expand Medicaid in the state.

State of play: Republicans have repeatedly said they aren't pushing to cut entitlement programs.

• But that commitment will clash with the party's goal of producing a budget that balances over the next decade. That's nearly impossible to do without raising taxes, or cutting defense or entitlement spending.

In a speech on the eve of the State of the Union, Speaker McCarthy explicitly said that "cuts to Medicare and Social Security are off the table."

• But that won't stop Dems from claiming the GOP would put voters' health care and retirement benefits at risk.
• Democratic-aligned groups are already pouncing on opportunities to tie potential GOP presidential candidates to entitlement cuts.

🥊 Reality check: The Medicare Board of Trustees estimates the Medicare Trust Fund will become insolvent by 2028. So the next president will inherit a ticking time bomb.

• Share this story.

President Biden will make deficit reduction a centerpiece of his 2024 budget, coming March 9 — and aims to pressure Republicans to focus on government revenue, not just spending, Axios' Hans Nichols has learned.

• Why it matters: The White House is seeking a tactical advantage in its showdown with congressional Republicans on the debt limit — and wants to test the GOP's commitment to lowering annual deficits.

🖼️ The big picture: The White House — and most of Washington — is preparing for a massive debate about the national debt. Both sides want to position themselves as a prudent steward of the country's finances.

The administration plans to dust off a variety of proposed tax increases on corporations and wealthy Americans — including Biden's plan to boost rates on billionaires — to narrow the gap between what the government takes in and spends.

Biden also plans to slow the rate of some spending. Republicans have called for cuts without specifying which ones.

• He hinted at that in his State of the Union: "The plan I'm going to show you is going to cut the deficit by another $2 trillion."

Keep reading.

Among the many mind-blowing things that the latest generation of AI seems poised to do: Make Microsoft cool again, Axios chief tech correspondent Ina Fried writes in her weekly "Signal Boost" column.

• Why it matters: The software giant has invested billions into OpenAI — and is betting that tools like Dall-E 2 and ChatGPT will boost Microsoft's Bing search engine, and reinvigorate Office and Windows.

Microsoft this week showed off how it's integrating the latest generative AI technologies into Bing and its Edge browser — hoping the move will help take on Google, which dominates the search and browser markets.

• The revamped Bing will still deliver a series of links or a short definitive answer about half the time.
• The other half will use a newer version of the engine that powers ChatGPT to offer up a longer response, and allow people to chat for a bit to hone the answer.

The bottom line: Microsoft's dream is that users of Google Search and Google Chrome who haven't sampled Microsoft's alternatives for years might try Bing or download Edge just to check out the new AI features.

• Share this story.

At last night's NFL Honors award show in Phoenix, ahead of Super Bowl 57, the Buffalo Bills' Damar Hamlin appeared onstage with members of the University of Cincinnati Medical Center staff who helped save him.

• "Sometimes, our own visions are too small," said Hamlin, 24. "God's plan was to have a purpose greater than any game in this world ... using me to give others hope."

"I have a long journey ahead," Hamlin added. "But it's a lot easier to face your fears when you know your purpose."

• Watch the video ... Read the story.

For the first time, the Super Bowl is being held in a state where sports betting is legal — and at a stadium with its own sportsbook, Axios Sports' Jeff Tracy reports.

• Why it matters: Sunday's game at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., represents America's — and the NFL's — vastly evolved stance on gambling.

Arizona is one of 33 states (+ D.C.) with a live, legal sports betting market.

• It ranks 10th in total handle (wagers accepted) since federal gaming restrictions were overturned in 2018, according to Legal Sports Report:

1. New Jersey ($33.7 billion)
2. Nevada ($29.5 billion)
3. Pennsylvania ($18.9 billion)
4. Illinois ($17.6 billion)
5. New York ($16.7 billion)
6. Indiana ($10.5 billion)
7. Colorado ($10.2 billion)
8. Michigan ($8.9 billion)
9. Virginia ($8.1 billion)
10. Arizona ($7.2 billion)

• Share this story ... Get Axios Local, now in 26 cities.

Within hours of an Air Force F-22 downing a giant Chinese balloon on Saturday, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reached out to his Chinese counterpart via a crisis line, aiming for a general-to-general talk that could ease tensions, AP reports.

• But Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe declined to get on the line, the Pentagon says.

Why it matters: The U.S. and China lack the reliable crisis communications that helped get the U.S. and Soviet Union through the Cold War without a nuclear exchange.

• The U.S. fears misunderstandings, false reports or accidental collisions could cause a minor confrontation to spiral into hostilities.

China's Defense Ministry says it refused the call from Austin because the U.S. had "not created the proper atmosphere" for dialogue and exchange.

The bottom line: Chinese leaders are suspicious of the U.S. notion of a hotline. They see it as an American channel for talking their way out of blowback for a U.S. provocation.

Philippe I. Reines — a political and corporate consultant who's well-known in Washington as the former top spokesperson for Hillary Clinton — writes for TIME that he "took the SATs in 1986, when I was 17," then "again this past December, only days after my 53rd birthday."

• "So how did I do?" PIR asks. "1080. Even worse than my low expectations. I knew my mis-pacing the essay section would cost me 80 or so points. And that the math section would be a bloodbath. My 600 verbal was only 20 points higher than my 1987 score, and my 480 math score was a 220-point drop."

As the headline rather rudely puts it: "Turns Out I Had Learned Nothing."

• Keep reading.

Chick-fil-A is testing its first plant-based sandwich after four years in the kitchen — the Chick-fil-A Cauliflower Sandwich, made with a "tender filet cut from a whole, real cauliflower."

• It's "similar to the original Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich — it is marinated, breaded with a signature seasoning, pressure-cooked, and served on a toasted buttery bun with two dill pickle chips."

The sandwich will be available beginning Monday in three markets — Denver, Charleston, S.C., and North Carolina's Greensboro-Triad region.