(Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS)
Wow, cutting program for the seniors and poor got such good press for Rep. Paul Ryan, apparently the big brains in the White House think Obama
should be getting in on the action.
President Obama this week will lay out a new approach to reducing the nation’s soaring debt, proposing reductions in spending on entitlements such as Medicare and Medicaid and renewing his call for tax increases on the rich.
In an effort to go on the offensive in the battle over government spending, Obama will look for cuts in “all corners of government,” senior adviser David Plouffe said on several Sunday talk shows.
Although Obama’s health-care law is projected to curtail Medicare spending over time, “we have to do more,” Plouffe said Sunday, marking the first time the administration has made an explicit commitment to changes in entitlement programs for the purpose of deficit reduction....
On Sunday, Plouffe did not specify how much more the president wants to cut or whether his speech would propose a specific legislative agenda other than to say he will be looking for savings in both Medicare and Medicaid.
He said that though Obama does not think Social Security liabilities are a primary driver of the nation’s deficit and debt, the president would be open to discussing that, too....
In recent days, administration officials have expressed interest in the work of a bipartisan group of senators, known as the Gang of Six, who are meeting to develop a strategy for implementing the fiscal commission’s recommendations.
People familiar with those meetings said National Economic Council Director Gene B. Sperling spoke with members of the group last week to discuss the deliberations. The group is close to an agreement and may announce one as soon as next week.
“The White House is eager to attach themselves to this,” one source said.
It just gets better and better. Social Security, too! The catfood commission didn't exist for nothing, folks, and here it comes. But, you have to wonder, has it occurred to anyone on the budget side of Obama's team that some tax revenues from employed people would sure help with the nation's fiscal well-being right now?
With Republicans coming off of their big win Friday night, with an additional $6.2 billion more in cuts than they went into the negotiations asking for, it's hard to see getting out of the budget and debt ceiling negotiations with Medicare and even Social Security largely intact. Now that Obama is offering up Medicare, well, get that spare bedroom ready for the parent or grandparents.
But in case the administration really wants to think about some policy alternatives to save Medicare and Medicaid some money, they might start with breaking the the policy they helped kill during the Affordable Care Act negotiations. It'd be a start.
