House Democrats on Wednesday said they would not agree to any Medicare cuts during the fiscal cliff negotiations. While Democrats have pressured Republicans to raise taxes on families making $250,000, there has not been any pressure whatsoever put on Democrats to come up with cuts to federal programs. And Democrats seem intent on not finding any for the time being.
Rex. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), the vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, told The Hill that Democrats were willing put “everything on the table for discussion,” but “the moment you want to privatize Social Security, or voucherize Medicare, or block-grant Medicaid — that’s where you lose us.”
“We don’t go after benefits for those who’ve earned them,” Becerra said.
Rep. John Larson (D-CT), who heads the House Democratic Caucus, echoed Becerra’s sentiments and said Republicans and Democrats needed to find more than $700 billion in savings by finding “inefficiencies” in the healthcare system without cutting Medicare benefits.
According to The Hill, Democrats continue to insist “there be no cuts to entitlement” benefits and accuse Republicans of being “insincere” when Republicans says they are “willing to accept more tax revenue, but only from eliminating loopholes and deductions in the tax code.”