Dick Durbin: Fiscal cliff now, entitlements later

Politico ^ | November 27, 2012 | Steven Sloan

[Qbert]

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin has a message for Republicans insisting on wholesale changes to entitlement programs in exchange for new tax revenue: not yet.

In a speech later this morning that seeks to crystalize the progressive approach to deficit reduction, the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat will try to split the debate about overhauling Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from the negotiations over resolving the fiscal cliff.

“Progressives should be willing to talk about ways to ensure the long-term viability of Medicare and Medicaid but those conversations should not be part of a plan to avert the fiscal cliff,” Durbin says, according to excerpts provided by his office.

The Illinois Democrat reiterates the view of many in his party that Social Security isn’t a driver of the nation’s deficit. And he insisted that current beneficiaries be protected from changes to any program.

“Small changes in the short-term will pay dividends in the long-term as long as current beneficiaries are protected,” he says. “Meaningful reforms can protect the vulnerable and improve care and efficiency, leaving the programs stronger for future generations.”

The tough talk on entitlements is sure to rile GOP lawmakers. Since the Nov. 6 election, Republican leaders have showcased their openness to raising revenue by eliminating or capping deductions and credits in the tax code. But they’ve insisted that Democrats have to give on entitlements if they expect Republican support for revenue increases.

It’s a point that GOP lawmakers reiterated as they returned from the Thanksgiving recess. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said Monday that it’s up to President Barack Obama to make a move on entitlements to garner GOP votes for a swift fiscal cliff deal.

“All he needs to do is show that he can propose a reasonable way to control entitlement spending,” Alexander said. “If he does that, he’ll get a budget agreement from Republicans. I don’t know how many Republicans need to say it.”

In his speech, Durbin offers other red lines he won’t cross. They include any effort to “repeal or gut” Obama’s health care law, privatizing Social Security, transforming Medicare into a so-called voucher plan or providing Medicaid block grants to states.

Durbin says any changes to the tax system must make it more — not less — progressive. Today’s tax code has six tax rates ranging from 10 to 35 percent. If lawmakers don’t resolve the fiscal cliff by Dec. 31, the top rate will climb to 39.6 percent and the bottom rate will rise to 15 percent.

Beyond those changes, a fiscal cliff impasse will mean that the alternative minimum tax will hit millions of additional families, the scope of the estate tax will expand, jobless benefits will lapse and physicians who see Medicaid patients will be reimbursed by the government at lower rates.

Durbin’s speech adds to the progressive fiscal cliff prescription that Sen. Chuck Schumer, the chamber’s No. 3 Democrat, outlined in October. In a speech to the National Press Club, the New York Democrat said Congress should use the lame-duck session to raise rates on top earners, end some deductions and tap the revenue that would result to pay down the deficit.

Schumer also rejected looking to the 1986 tax code overhaul as a framework for a new deficit deal. House Speaker John Boehner has pointed to that law — the last major rewrite of the tax system — as the way forward on tax policy.

Obama last met with congressional leaders on Nov. 16, and he hasn’t yet scheduled another negotiating session. Still, he’ll hold several events this week to ratchet up pressure on Congress to cut a deal.

He’s scheduled to meet with 15 small business owners Tuesday, then meet with business leaders on Wednesday. The show will go on the road Friday when Obama heads to Hatfield, Pa., to speak at a manufacturing facility owned by The Rodon Group, a construction toy company whose products include Angry Birds building sets. The event is designed to highlight the fiscal cliff’s impact on the holiday shopping season.

Though Democrats and Republicans remain far apart on a prescription for the fiscal cliff, Durbin — an alum of the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction panel — says he’s “optimistic” that a solution will come together before the end of the year.

“The election didn’t give either party a mandate,” Durbin says. “What voters gave both parties is a work order. They told us to work together to solve this problem fairly and wisely.”

[Digger]

I say let them go off the fiscal cliff, and then refuse to raise the national debt limit

This works for me.

[Hound of the Baskervilles]

The Dems want tax hikes now, no spending cuts ever. Then when things go to hell they will say we need to raise taxes again, the rich are still not paying their fair share.

The dems are invincibly ignorant. I don’t think anything can stop them. They cannot reason normally. We are dealing with lunatics and they are going to pull us all under when the ship goes down. But hey by then we will all be equally poor so the Dems will die happy.

[GeronL]

They will never ever ever cut spending

[PhilCollins]

Sen. Durbin can run for re-election in 2014. I live near Chicago, and I know a conservative Republican who told me that he’ll run, in that race. The candidate is Chad Koppie, a member of the Kane Co. Regional Board of Schools. In the 1998 IL GOP governor primary, Chad was the only conservative candidate. He’s pro-tax cuts, pro-spending cuts, pro-life, pro-gun rights, and anti-illegal alien. Please read his blog, chadkoppiescampaign.blogspot.com.