Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., acknowledged that Democrats have consistently failed to produce “a smart budget” because they feared caving to Republican entitlement reforms.
“Maybe Democrats have worked too hard to try to protect those programs from the devastating cuts and in doing so that has kept us from trying to come up with a smart budget,” Becerra, vice-chair of the House Democratic Caucus, said during a fiscal summit today. He explained that Democrats expected Republicans to “eliminate” programs such as Medicare.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., top priority may reflect the mentality Becerra described. “Of all the priorities that we have, defeating the Tea Party-Ryan Republican budget, that should be our focus,” she told ABC’s Jon Karl.
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, regarded as a potential vice presidential candidate, warned during the summit with Becerra that the American economy could slip back into recession if spending and tax reforms aren’t implemented by the end of the year.
