–Sen. Coburn Says He’s Working On $9 Trillion Deficit Reduction Plan
–Sen. Coburn: ‘On Sabbatical’ From Gang of Six Talks
–Sen. Coburn: ‘Can’t Fix America’ Without Soc Sec, Medicare Reform
–Sen. Warner: Can’t Afford To ‘Step Back’ From Deficit-Cut Efforts

By John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) – Sen. Tom Coburn, a key Republican member of the
Senate’s so-called “Gang of Six,” said Wednesday that he is leaving the
bipartisan budget deliberations because they are not moving towards an
agreement.

In an interview with reporters in the Capitol, Coburn said he has
decided to move forward with his own plan to cut budget deficits by
about $9 trillion over the next decade.

Coburn said he will be ready to release his plan in about three
weeks.

Coburn said that proposals to overhaul Social Security and Medicare
are integral to serious deficit reduction efforts.

“You can’t fix America without fixing Medicare and Social
Security,” he said.

Coburn said that while he is strongly opposed to increasing tax
rates, he is open to securing more revenues by closing tax loopholes and
eliminating tax expenditures.

Coburn did not rule out returning to the bipartisan budget talks,
but said that he is on a “sabbatical” from those negotiations now.

Another member of the “Gang of Six,” Democratic Sen. Mark
Warner, said the group will continue to work on a bipartisan deficit
reduction plan.

“This is too important to step back,” he said to reporters as he
boarded a Senate subway train.

The “Gang of Six” began work late last year as the three Democratic
and three Republican senators tried to craft a bipartisan budget
agreement based on the Simpson-Bowles report which urged about $4
trillion in deficit cuts over a decade.

The three Democratic senators — Warner, Richard Durbin, and Kent
Conrad — and the three Republican senators — Coburn, Saxby Chamblis
and Mike Crappo — have been meeting several times a week for months in
an attempt to craft a budget agreement.

Budget experts believe the impasse of the Gang of Six brings fresh
urgency to the talks led by Vice President Biden.

Biden has held three rounds of talks with congressional leaders to
explore what kind of deficit reduction package might be developed to
coincide with this summer’s vote on debt ceiling legislation.

Biden has held meetings with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor,
Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman
Dan Inouye, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, Assistant
House Minority Leader Jim Clyburn and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the top
Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

The administration is represented by Biden, Treasury Secretary
Tim Geithner, White House budget director Jack Lew and the director of
the National Economic Council Gene Sperling.

Kyl, a senior GOP participant to the talks, told reporters
Wednesday that the Biden talks are more focused on assembling a package
of spending cuts that would be linked with the debt ceiling than they
are in developing a comprehensive fiscal plan.

“That’s not really our mandate,” he said.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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