Lawmakers and the White House met for the first time Thursday to negotiate federal budget cuts and raising the debt ceiling, but congressional Republicans acknowledged that the deal is not likely to include Medicare reform. Few Capitol Hill insiders said they believed it would be possible to tackle major entitlement spending over the next two years, with the president, House members and dozens of senators up for re-election in 2012. But the GOP, which drafted a plan to reform both Medicare and Medicaid, had been stubbornly insisting it could be done.
The GOP’s stance changed after the two parties gathered at Blair House to start negotiating a plan to add about $2 trillion to the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. Republicans want major cuts in exchange for agreeing to raise the limit. But with just three months left before the debt limit is reached, the GOP all but conceded a final deal would likely exclude their Medicare reform plan, which would reduce spending by trimming the program’s benefits and raising the age of eligibility.
Recommended Stories
Democrats are flat-out opposed to the Republican Medicare plan, GOP leaders acknowledged, adding that they are searching for areas in which the two sides can agree.
Both parties fear a stalemate on the debt ceiling, which Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said must be raised to avoid sending the nation’s fragile economy into a tailspin.
“If you can look at the budget proposals that the House voted on and you compare that to what the administration has put out, there are areas in which you could see some commonality,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., said after the Blair House meeting. “We are about trying to find ways where we can produce a result.”
Cantor insisted to a group of reporters that Medicare reform remains on the table, but a pair of top House GOP lawmakers said otherwise.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., said Thursday he does not intend to move a bill through his tax-writing panel that would include the GOP’s Medicare reform language. Instead, Camp indicated he is seeking a compromise that stands a chance of passing in the Senate, which is ruled by Democrats.
Also Thursday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the main author of the Medicare reform proposal, conceded it was not likely that the Medicare program could be altered significantly until after the 2012 elections are over.
Without Medicare to use as a negotiating tool, Republicans will instead seek to make significant spending cuts while avoiding any new tax increases.
The Blair House negotiations will continue Tuesday, when the focus will be on finding areas of agreement for cutting spending, Cantor said.
“I think coming out of the meeting there is general agreement that things have got to change and we need to see some reform and some spending cuts,” Cantor said.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., a Blair House participant, said members are trying to be flexible.
“Nobody’s locked themselves into anything,” he said.
