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Senior Citizen Politics
Fiscal
Commission Fizzles on Deficit Reduction Plans that Focused on Senior
Programs
Much of the
commission’s deficit-cutting was aimed at the costly entitlements,
Social Security and Medicare but not enough votes to pass
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Former Wyoming
GOP Sen. Alan Simpson, co-chair, and former Clinton White House Chief of
Staff Erskine Bowles, give the results of the last day of the
National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform.
Click to video at White House blog. |
Dec. 4, 2010
– The grand plan to cut $4 trillion out of the national deficit over the
next 10 years came to a quiet and uneventful end yesterday. Co-chairs
former Wyoming GOP Sen. Alan
Simpson, and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles,
announced yesterday that the
National
Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform could not get a majority
of its 18 members to approve forwarding the recommendations to the
Congress.
A bipartisan
majority of the presidential debt commission announced their support for
the package but there were not enough votes to approve it with the
required 14 member supermajority.
The
commission established by President Obama grabbed the spotlight briefly
with a creative list of changes for the federal government that would
accomplish what everyone says they want to do – reduce the federal
deficit.
The changes
strongly focused on the senior citizen entitlement programs of Medicare
and Social Security, and raised alarms with proposals that would have
seniors paying more for Medicare and raising the age for people to
receive Social Security benefits.
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Related Stories |
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Booming Senior Citizen Population Will Bring Social Security to Its
Knees: Deficit Committee
Significant changes in seniors’ security blanket
program detailed by committee in ‘The Moment of Truth’ report
By
Tucker Sutherland, editor, SeniorJournal.com
Dec. 3, 2010
Knives Come Out to
Slash Medicare in Deficit Reduction Committee’s New Draft
 Suggestions on enhancing the health of the U.S. budget is entitled,
'The Moment of Truth', but may be an ugly moment for senior citizens
By Tucker
Sutherland, editor, SeniorJournal.com
Dec. 2, 2010
 Plans would require seniors to
pay a larger share of Medicare; one idea would give senior citizens a
set amount of money to buy their own coverage
By
Mary
Agnes Carey, KHN Staff Writer -
Latest Deficit
Report Recommends Senior Citizens Pay More For Medicare
 Sub-committee
also calls for a national debt-reduction sales tax of 6.5 percent, as well as changes in
Social Security and income tax rates
By
Phil Galewitz and
Jordan Rau,
KHN Staff Writers
Nov. 18, 2010
Social Security,
Medicare Cuts in Bulls Eye for Federal Commission Trying to Reduce
Budget
 Bi-partisan
commission charged with identifying policies to improve the fiscal
situation of the federal budget got off to thunderous start
Nov. 11, 2010
New Campaign Gets
136 in Congress to Warn President About Cutting Social Security
 These House
Democrats pledge to oppose any form of Social
Security cuts coming from commission setup by President Obama
Oct. 20, 2010
Read more
on
Politics for Senior Citizens |
|
In commenting on
the failed vote Barbara B. Kennelly, President of the National Committee
to Preserve Social Security and Medicare said, “I’m not surprised given
that this fiscal debate spent so much time on the wrong track,”
“Working
Americans, who continue to suffer in this economic crisis, want fiscal
sanity returned to Washington. However, they also know that Social
Security isn’t the problem.
“Unfortunately,
it’s clear that many in Washington will continue to search for a way to
reduce Social Security benefits in order to avoid repaying the $2.6
trillion dollars in bonds currently credited to Social Security. That is
not fiscal responsibility -- that’s $2.6 trillion dollars contributed to
Social Security by America’s workers that Washington’s fiscal hawks want
to keep.
“If anything
good has come from this commission effort, it’s that the root causes of
our fiscal woes have been identified. The commission has begun the
process of examining how we can rein in our debt and deficits, which are
by definition outside the Social Security portion of the budget. This is
where our future efforts must begin.”
Following are
some of the headlines generated across the nation.
The New York Times: Backing for
Fiscal Panel’s Plan Grows, but Still Falls Short
 The
commission did not formally vote because while 11 of 18 members backed
the plan, that was short of the 14-vote supermajority required to send
the plan to Congress for action under the terms of Mr. Obama’s executive
order last February establishing the commission. Even so, panel members
of both parties, and opponents of the plan as well as supporters, said
as they expressed their views that the package should serve as 'a
template' for future action, in the words of Representative Xavier
Becerra, a Democratic opponent from California (Calmes, 12/3).
The Washington Post: Deficit
plan wins 11 of 18 votes; more than expected, but not enough to force
action
The
commission's final plan recommends making sharp cuts to military
spending and phasing in a higher retirement age. The package would raise
taxes by nearly $1 trillion by 2020, primarily through moves that would
eliminate or reduce long-standing credits, such as the home mortgage
interest deduction. Meanwhile, the top income tax rate for both
individuals and corporations would be dramatically lowered, from 35
percent to 29 percent or less (Dennis and Montgomery, 12/3).
The Associated Press:
Deficit-cutting plan fails to advance to Capitol
It would also
nearly freeze the Pentagon budget and cut outright the budgets for most
domestic agencies. But it largely leaves alone Obama's health care
overhaul bill and Republicans say it falls short of tackling the
unsustainable growth of Medicare and Medicaid, the federal health care
programs for the elderly and the poor (12/3).
 The
Wall Street Journal: Deficit Plan Fails to Win Panel Support
Despite
falling short of the supermajority, the National Commission on Fiscal
Responsibility and Reform received the backing of key, and somewhat
surprising senators. Sen. Richard Durbin (D., Ill.), one of the more
liberal Senate Democrats, said he supported the plan, even though he had
serious qualms about aspects of the report (Boles, 12/3).
Roll Call: Fiscal Commission
Fails to Advance Debt-Reduction Plan
Neither
Democrats nor Republicans expected the blueprint would be translated
into bill form and pass both chambers before the end of the lame-duck
session. Instead, lawmakers on the commission talked about setting the
stage for budget negotiations next year (Dennis, 12/3).
The Fiscal Times: Deficit Plan
Gets Support From Conservative Senators
Conservative
Republican Sens. Tom Coburn and Mike Crapo announced on Thursday they
will support a far-ranging deficit reduction plan crafted by the
co-chairmen of the president’s fiscal commission – providing an
important political boost for the measure on Capitol Hill. ... House
Republican members of the commission are likely to oppose the plan
because of its tax increases and failure to address their concerns about
the health care reform law enacted earlier this year (Pianin, 11/2).
Journal Sentinel: Ryan Explains
'No' Vote On Debt-Reduction Plan
Saying he'll
vote against the debt-reduction plan authored by leaders of the
President's fiscal commission, US Rep. Paul Ryan had both good and bad
things to say about the proposal Thursday. ... Ryan said he would vote
against the plan when the commission meets Friday because it accepts the
premise of the new health care law and doesn’t restructure the country’s
health care entitlements, chiefly Medicare (Gilbert, 12/2).
The Hill: Rep. Ryan says deficit
reduction plan would 'entrench ObamaCare'
"Obviously I
am not going to vote for it," he told reporters at an event organized by
The Christian Science Monitor. He said the plan makes spending problems
related to healthcare "dramatically worse" (Wasson, 12/2).
Bloomberg: Five Members of Debt
Panel Oppose Bowles-Simpson Plan, Enough to Reject It
Five members
of President Barack Obama’s debt commission said they oppose its $3.8
trillion budget-cutting proposal, enough to ensure rejection of the plan
(Faler and Przybyla, 12/2).
>>
Related KHN document: Text:
Fiscal Commission's Recommendations On Health Care Spending
>>
Watch video of concluding remarks
|
Some
of this
information was reprinted from
kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J.
Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up
for email delivery. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All
rights reserved. |
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