Dems take aim at GOP spending-cut plan [View All]

[deadparrot]

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- House Democrats on Thursday blasted a Republican spending cut plan designed to help pay for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, calling the proposed reductions in health programs draconian.

A group of 89 House conservatives known as the Republican Study Committee had released a proposal Wednesday calling for $102 billion in federal savings in 2006 to help pay for what is estimated to be a years-long cleanup and rehabilitation effort in the Gulf Coast. The plan includes a call to raise $85 billion over 10 years by boosting premiums paid by Medicare beneficiaries, as well as a one-year delay in the start of Medicare's prescription drug benefit, currently due to begin Jan. 1.

Also included is a proposed $25 billion cut over 10 years to the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of few federal agencies to earn praise for its hurricane response.

"Congress must ensure that a catastrophe of nature does not become a catastrophe of debt for our children and grandchildren," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., who chairs the study committee.

http://about.upi.com/products/health_business/UPI-20050922-033323-4920R