Harry Reid’s Debt Proposal Will Leave Entitlement Benefits Untouched
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) $2.7 trillion debt ceiling proposal will not include reforms to the benefit structure of entitlement programs, several Democratic sources confirmed on Monday.
The plan, which is being crafted as a last-minute attempt to break through the political impasse on a deficit reduction package, would instead lean heavily on cuts to discretionary spending. The package will also reportedly include roughly $1 trillion in savings that will come from the drawdown of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which the Congressional Budget Office does score). Reid’s office was notably hesitant to confirm that detail, cautioning reporters to wait until the final package is unveiled. That said, if entitlement programs remain more or less untouched in the plan, there would be few other areas from which to draw ten-year savings.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/harry-reid-debt-ceiling_n_908596.html
Looks like Harry is trying desperately to save the Medicare issue for the Dems for '12, but he's relying on a CBO scoring of the wars to be able to do that. Interesting.