Obama Budget Plan: Take Two!
President Obama this afternoon announced plans to develop a multiyear debt-reduction proposal.
Although the president offered a fiscal year 2012 budget proposal in February, the plan did not call for cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, even though many lawmakers largely attribute soaring deficits to such programs.
However, House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) last week released a FY 2012 proposal that would make $6 trillion in federal spending cuts over the next decade, in part by overhauling Medicare and Medicaid. It would provide Medicare beneficiaries with lump-sum vouchers to buy private insurance and turn Medicaid into a block-grant system. The Medicaid overhaul would provide states with fixed annual block grants of $11,000 per beneficiary to use as they choose.
Although Obama is more willing the second time around to find savings in the entitlement programs, he will not accept efforts to drastically cut or overhaul the programs, according to CQ Today.
For early coverage of Obama’s remarks this afternoon, follow these links:
National Journal [subscription required]
