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Posted on 04/15/2015 12:29:06 PM PDT by SoConPubbie
Sen. Ted Cruz will oppose the House's permanent doc-fix bill, which is expected to get a vote in the Senate in the next few days, as the upper chamber's Republican presidential aspirants prepare to vote on legislation that its party leaders are touting as major entitlement reform but that some fiscal conservatives vigorously oppose.
"While I appreciate the work done by my colleagues in the House, I cannot support the Boehner-Pelosi bill, which institutionalizes and expands Obamacare policies that harm patients and their doctors while adding roughly half a trillion dollars to our long-term debt within two decades," Cruz said in a statement to National Journal.
Other deficit hawks have criticized the bill for not being fully paid for. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the doc-fix bill would cost $210 billion over 10 years, with $70 billion directly offset.
Outside groups like the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget have argued that the legislation would add a total of $500 billion to the deficit over 20 years, though that figure is contested by House Speaker John Boehner's office and other supporters of the bill, who say it would pay for itself in the long term.
Boehner has called the bill, which earned a huge 392-vote majority in the lower chamber, "the first real entitlement reform in 20 years." Cruz appears to disagree.
"The so-called 'SGR' is a flawed approach that needs to be eliminated, but doing so should be a catalyst for real entitlement reform," he continued in the statement. "Any deal should be fully paid for and include significant and structural reforms to Medicare that provide seniors more power and control over their health care."
The Senate is planning to vote on the bill imminently; Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to allow a limited number of amendments, and one of the anticipated amendments would require that the cost be fully offset. It isn't expected to pass, and Boehner's office has indicated he isn't open to any changes from the upper chamber.
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CRUZ or LOSE!” Boehner’s office has indicated he isn’t open to any changes from the upper chamber.”
30 year old single malt will buy him.
First come, first served.
Go Cruz!
He knocks 'em out of the park!
Only 8 Nos - Two of the others were Rubio and Lee
And Rand Paul tows the RINO liberal establishment line.
The RINOs and Democrats will cite this as as proof that Cruz wants to deprive seniors of Medicare.
Go Ted Go!
MEDICARE REFORM = MEDICARE CUT
Plus increase the deficits and transfer more wealth from the working to the not working
what’s not to love about the GOP compromise?
I’m with Ted.
Curious...if you abolish the IRS, who enforces the collections to maintain a strong military? Cruz will replace it with???
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