Top Democrats reject new plan to cut Medicare spending

[n2doc]

By Rosalind S. Helderman and Paul Kane, Published: June 28
Leading congressional Democrats immediately recoiled Tuesday from a new proposal to cut $600 billion in Medicare spending over the next decade — in part by raising the eligibility age.

Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) unveiled the proposal as part of a bipartisan effort to produce the kind of savings necessary to achieve the $2 trillion in debt reduction both parties say is needed to convince reticent lawmakers to vote to raise the debt ceiling. It would raise Medicare’s eligibility age from 65 to 67 and assess higher premiums on wealthier seniors.

The proposal echoes Republican demands that entitlement reform — especially deep cuts in Medicare spending — be a part of any agreement to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.

But the swift rejection of the proposal among Democrats reflects the significant obstacles that remain to any agreement to cut the deficit and raise the nation’s legal borrowing limit.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/top-democrats-reject-new-plan-to-cut-medicare-spending/2011/06/28/AGoSmhpH_story.html?hpid=z5

[xchrom]

1. Recommend

[DrDan]

2. let's pile on the seniors and let the wealthy escape - neo-Dem platform

[sufrommich]

3. Lieberman and Coburn aren't dems. nt

[DrDan]

9. oops - read it too quickly

[dmallind]

6. So you missed TWO key facts - possibly three

The creators were an R and an I - no Ds.

Ds, neo and paleo, immediately rejected it.

and, it increased fees for the wealthy rather than seeing them "escape".

[DrDan]

8. oops - misread it

[whathehell]

4. Good for the top dems....Tell the repukes we'll talk when they cut

subsidies for Big Oil, subsidies for companies off-shoring jobs, and plug up the tax loopholes used by the uber-rich.

As a Greek citizen said: "We're not going to suffer so the Rich can get even richer".

[n2doc]

7. Except that Greece just passed their 'austerity' budget

I'm not convinced even rioting will stop the kleptocracy. We can't even manage a good march against this stuff nowadays, and even if we did, no one would cover it.

[fascisthunter]

5. Lets just Take Lieberman's Assets and throw his ass out of the COuntry

for allowing this shit to happen due to the tax cuts for the rich and the wars he helped lie us into. I really do wish we could hold politicians accountable by suing the fuck out of them for damagaes!!!