Obama puts Social Security, Medicare cuts on the table

By Reuters
Thursday, July 7th, 2011 -- 8:26 am

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After weeks of impasse, President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders are aiming for "something big" as they resume budget talks on Thursday to avert an imminent default.
With Republicans showing new flexibility on taxes, Democrats say Obama will push negotiators to double their target to $4 trillion (2.5 trillion pounds) in budget savings over 10 years.
That would be an ambitious goal, but there have been a few hints of progress since talks hit a brick wall two weeks ago.
The meeting, which takes place at the White House, is due to start at 11 a.m. EDT (4 p.m. British time) and last about an hour.
Obama will propose cuts in Social Security and major reductions in Medicare, which mark a major shift for the White House, The Washington Post reported late on Wednesday, citing people in both parties with knowledge of the proposal.
In exchange, Obama would seek Republican support for increasing tax revenues, the Post reported.
Negotiators are trying to craft a deal that would allow lawmakers to say they are taking steps to keep the national debt under control even as they sign off on further borrowing.

Failure to raise the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling by August 2 could force the country to default on debt service and other obligations, a move that could push the country back into recession and send shock waves through financial markets across the globe.
A small team of U.S. Treasury officials are discussing options to stave off default if Congress fails to raise the debt limit by the August 2 deadline, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Senior officials, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, have repeatedly said there are no contingency plans if lawmakers do not give the U.S. government the authority to borrow more money.
But the sources said the Treasury was looking at a number of options, including whether the administration can delay payments to try and manage cash flows after August 2.
"SOMETHING BIG"
By the end of last week, lawmakers were weighing a scaled-back deal that would cover the country's borrowing needs in the short term but force Congress to confront the issue again in a few months, when the 2012 election season will make politically painful decisions even more difficult.
Obama dismissed that idea on Tuesday, two days after he met secretly with the top Republican in Washington, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner.
"We've got a unique opportunity to do something big," he said at a news conference, where he invited top congressional leaders to Thursday's White House meeting.
Obama's goal of $4 trillion in savings matches the figure that budget experts say is needed to keep the debt at a sustainable level. It is not clear how he would get there when the two sides have had trouble reaching half of that goal.
Obama's proposal to restrain Social Security spending could include adjusting the measure of inflation used to determine payouts for the retirement program, the Post reported.
In earlier sessions, negotiators identified roughly $2 trillion in spending cuts that could form the basis of a deal. Republicans walked out of those talks after Democrats called for an additional $400 billion in budget savings by ending a range of tax breaks that benefit wealthy people and certain businesses, like the oil and gas industry.
On Wednesday, the two Republicans who were involved in those talks indicated that they could accept some "revenue raisers" in a deal.
Senator Jon Kyl, the No. 2 Republican in the Senate, said his side had backed measures that would generate between $150 billion and $200 billion in new revenue generated by selling assets such as broadband spectrum and raising user fees.
His counterpart in the House, Majority Leader Eric Cantor, said Republicans could support ending some of the tax breaks that Democrats have proposed in return for tax cuts elsewhere.
Obama has proposed extending a payroll-tax cut that expires at the end of this year, which would add about $100 billion to budget deficits over the next 10 years. That cost could be offset by repealing tax breaks for ethanol producers, hedge-fund managers and oil and gas companies, or other elements Democrats have proposed.
"This would allow Democrats to get some tax hikes in the deal and extend the payroll tax cut, but Republicans could say they didn't vote for a net tax increase," analysts at International Strategy & Investment wrote in a research note.
Aside from Cantor and Kyl, the meeting will include Boehner, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.
Democrats believe a deal needs to be in place by July 22 in order to ensure that Congress can raise the debt limit by August 2. Thursday's meeting could determine whether that is possible.
"We're going to have a really good indication by the end of this week, early next week as to whether they're actually bearing fruit or not," Republican Senator Bob Corker told Reuters Insider.
(Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Rachelle Younglai, Tim Reid and Caren Bohan; Editing by Eric Beech)

Views: 42

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Was a Planned Civil War Averted?
"cheeki kea, you are spot on. The old guard is about to collapse! "
Thursday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post Alligator Creek and a Japanese Massacre
"cheeki kea, the Japanese thought they could expand their empire and exact enough damage on the US…"
Thursday
Michelle Reichert favorited Burbia's video
Wednesday
cheeki kea posted a video

NEW DOCUMENTARY - Dissent Into Madness

TRANSCRIPT AND SOURCES: https://www.corbettreport.com/dissent-into-madness/What if the delusions of the dissidents are in fact real? What if their paranoid f...
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Alligator Creek and a Japanese Massacre
"Japan served themselves up no favours by inching out into the South Pacific as they soon found out.…"
Wednesday
cheeki kea commented on Doc Vega's blog post Was a Planned Civil War Averted?
"Their plans did not work out because we are the news now, and the old news is the enemy. "
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Alligator Creek and a Japanese Massacre

The year is 1942 just a few months after the Pearl Harbor disaster. Despite losses suffered by the…See More
Tuesday
Doc Vega commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

CHARLIE KIRK WAS CNP! JOSH REEVES 9-11-25

"With all due respect this guy comes off as a drunken asshole and he didn't even  know who…"
Monday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Was a Planned Civil War Averted?

We are living in sadly historic times where good and evil are in battle all the time. Not that this…See More
Sunday
Sandy posted a photo
Sep 28
Less Prone posted a video

President Trump addresses U.N. General Assembly - FULL SPEECH

President Donald Trump speaks at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.Full video here: https://www.c-span.org/event/white-house-event/preside...
Sep 28
Burbia posted a video

2 MIN AGO: Western Provinces MAJOR New WEXIT Announcement - Canada EXPLODES!

In a stunning turn of events, Western provinces just made a major new WEXIT announcement — and it’s shaking the foundations of Canadian unity. Is Western sep...
Sep 27
Doc Vega posted a blog post

How You Provoke a Civil War

In the world of counter intelligence which is simply one aspect of many pertaining to asymmetrical…See More
Sep 26
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
Thumbnail

CHARLIE KIRK WAS CNP! JOSH REEVES 9-11-25

"I don't follow as much with Josh Reeves than I use to. He seems to be a documentary producing…"
Sep 25
Burbia posted a video

CHARLIE KIRK WAS CNP! JOSH REEVES 9-11-25

DONATE-paypal-dayglow76@yahoo.comCashapp-reevesradioVenmo-Josh-Reeves-61FILMS AND AUDIOBOOKS DOWNLOAD STORE-https://store.payloadz.com/results/242828-josh-re...
Sep 25
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Sep 25
tjdavis posted a video

CHARLIE KIRK VIDEO THAT KEEPS GETTING REMOVED OFF OF SEVERAL PLATFORMS

I had not planned to share this publicly, but I believe Advar, who spoke with Charlie Kirk while I was very ill, would have wanted me to. After my interview ...
Sep 25
pohonemas33 team commented on Chris of the family Masters's photo
Thumbnail

Gold-Coast-Message

"untuk bermain slot, kamu cukup kunjungi situs kacang99 pasti langsung gacor"
Sep 24
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Sep 24
Burbia posted a blog post

Former President Trump?

When was this article written? It is attributed to Victor Davis Hanson. He is a Fellow at Hoover…See More
Sep 22

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted