I guess desperate times call for desperate measures.
In an attempt to reach a deficit-reduction deal, President Obama is offering to cut essential programs such as Social Security and Medicare in his new budget proposal. The President’s proposal will include a cut of $1.8 trillion over 10 years and replace the budget cuts that went into effect on March 1. This deal also revisits an earlier proposal to House Speaker, John Boehner, where $400 billion in savings to Medicare would occur over those 10 years.
A senior administration official commented,
The President’s budget to be presented on Wednesday will show how we can invest in the things we need to grow our economy, create jobs and strengthen the middle class while further reducing the deficit in a balanced way
The Social Security portion will include a ‘chained CPI’, an inflation formula which should attract many Republicans as the CPI is argued to be a more accurate calculation of inflation which could possibly help minimize the growth of consumer prices. The idea of whether or not this is truly the case is still being heavily debated.
There’s little doubt that this proposal will cause some dissent against President Obama as cutting Social Security and Medicare is an unpopular choice for many Democratic supporters.
However, this has been an ongoing battle between the President and many Republican incumbents and it’s clear that the President is ready to move forward with some type of compromise that pleases most, if not all, members of each party.
Just don’t bend too far, Mr. President.
