Liberal governor's request for Medicaid cuts puts Democrats in tough spotBy Julian Pecquet - 07/20/11 06:00 AM ET President Obama and congressional Democrats have been put in a tough spot by California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) request to cut Medicaid spending by 10 percent. Brown says he needs to make the cuts to the state Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal, to ease his state’s severe budget woes. But advocates say cuts of that size would be devastating to California’s most vulnerable residents. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) — and, by extension, the White House — must...