–Senate Majority Leader: Eager To Vote On GOP Plan To ‘Kill Medicare’
–Says Republicans Have Been ‘Erratic’ On Fiscal Issues
By John Shaw
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Monday
that he is eager for the Senate to vote this week on the budget passed
by House Republicans, labeling it as “the Republican plan to kill
Medicare.”
In remarks on the Senate floor, Reid scorched the fiscal year 2012
budget that was drafted by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan and
approved by the House in April.
Reid said that the American people have turned sharply against the
“Medicare killing plan” approved by the House. He said Republican
support of the plan has been “erratic,” and cited former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich’s criticisms of the Medicare plan as “right wing social
engineering.”
Ryan’s FY’12 budget resolution would cut spending by $5.8 trillion
over a decade compared to President Obama’s February budget. It would
reduce budget deficits by $1.6 trillion over a decade.
Democrats have blasted many features of Ryan’s plan and have
particularly focused on his recommendation to completely overhaul
Medicare. Some Republicans, including on at least one occasion House
Speaker John Boehner, have said that Ryan’s proposal is only a
“blueprint” and hinted that it would be substantially overhauled later
in the process.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has countered by saying
Republicans would bring up Obama’s budget, noting that the president’s
budget has few admirers on Capitol Hill, even among Democrats.
The Senate budget votes could occur as early as Wednesday
** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **
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