Thu May 05, 2011 at 07:05 AM PDT
Rep. Paul Ryan's happy talk about how constituents are "overwhelmingly supportive" of his budget plan once it's explained to them apparently didn't convince all those members of Congress who got an earful from their constituents about his Medicare proposal. It can be dropped now, according to the Washington Post and "senior Republicans."
Senior Republicans conceded Wednesday that a deal is unlikely on a contentious plan to overhaul Medicare and offered to open budget talks with the White House by focusing on areas where both parties can agree, such as cutting farm subsidies.On the eve of debt-reduction talks led by Vice President Biden, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Va.) said Republicans remain convinced that reining in federal retirement programs is the key to stabilizing the nation’s finances over the long term. But he said Republicans recognize they may need to look elsewhere to achieve consensus after President Obama "excoriated us" for a proposal to privatize Medicare.
That search should start, Cantor said, with a list of GOP proposals that would save $715 billion over the next decade by ending payments to wealthy farmers, limiting lawsuits against doctors, and expanding government auctions of broadcast spectrum to telecommunications companies, among other items.
In addition to hearing directly from constituents, they can read polls, too. And stories like this one in the Wall Street Journal.
Changes to Medicare and Medicaid remain wildly unpopular and more than two-thirds of registered voters want to repeal Bush-era tax cuts for households that make more than $250,000 a year, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.More than twice as many voters oppose efforts to change Medicare than those who favor limiting benefits under the popular health-care program for seniors. And a distinct majority opposes new limits on Medicaid, the federal-state health program for the poor.
Of course, almost every single House Republican voted for that Republican budget, and for the abolishment of Medicare and decimation of Medicaid. That vote can't be undone, no matter how fast they run from it now. None of which is to say they won't argue for shredding as much of the rest of the safety net as possible. Or against raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/05/973206/-Senior-Republicans:-We-could-drop-that-whole-Medicare-abolishment-thing
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