Here is a roundup of the top trending stories on Social Security and Medicare for 5/9. Not all stories reflect our views:
DEBT/DEFICIT
House conservatives prepare strong demands to raise the debt ceiling-THE HILL. House conservatives appear comfortable with being unable to get Medicare reform in exchange for the debt ceiling being raised and are coalescing around other strong demands including enactment of a balanced budget amendment. http://thehill.com/...
John Boehner goes to New York to talk debt-POLITICO. House Speaker John Boehner will step up his efforts Monday to lay out a strategy for raising the debt ceiling to a crowd heavy on Wall Street players who are anxiously watching the fierce debate over the debt ceiling unfold. http://www.politico.com/...
MEDICARE
GOP Medicare Proposal Keeps Roiling Washington Politics-KAISER HEALTH NEWS. Los Angeles Times: GOP Finding It Hard To Make Progress: Six months after Republicans swept the midterm election by promising bold solutions to fiscal woes, they continue to struggle to find a unified voice on key issues and to overcome persistent divisions within the party. ... The problem was underscored last week when Republicans bowed to political realities on their signature issue of entitlement reform, acknowledging that a plan to overhaul and eventually privatize Medicare would not advance anytime soon, and would not be part of a deal with the White House to raise the government's borrowing limit (Hennessey and Mascaro, 5/8). http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/...
Big Medicare overhaul? Don't bet on it-POLITICO. Confused by what comes after the dueling deficit plans by President Barack Obama and Rep. Paul Ryan? Not sure whether to follow the bipartisan deficit talks led by Vice President Joe Biden, the bipartisan “Gang of Six” talks, or the budget resolution being written by Sen. Kent Conrad, who’s also in the “Gang of Six”? http://www.politico.com/...
BLOGS
Beyond the Medicare Fight: GOP, Centrist Dems Targeting Medicaid-HUFFINGTON POST. They're increasingly likely to reach a consensus on spending caps and giving states much greater leeway to cut services and access to Medicaid. Unfortunately, the low-income children, adults and disabled people on the program are politically powerless in the upcoming budget wars. That equation could change if the powerful AARP decides to fight as aggressively on behalf of Medicaid -- and the six million elderly whose long-term care the program funds -- as it has defended Medicare and Social Security. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Everyone in Congress Drops Medicare in Their Budget-Cutting Plans-FIRE DOG LAKE. As we get more clarity on the menu of options in the upcoming budget debate, we’re seeing a narrowing of differences between the two parties. The Republicans may not want to admit it, but they’ve given up on changing the structure of Medicare. You can be sure of this by looking at the proposal of the Republican Study Committee, the far-right rump in the House (and it’s much more than a rump, including 3/4 of the entire House GOP caucus), which created a list of demands for increasing the debt limit. Even THEIR plan doesn’t mess with Medicare. http://news.firedoglake.com/...