President Obama Said to Call for Curbing Entitlements, Increasing Taxes

[cal04]

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-13/obama-said-to-call-for-curbing-entitlements-increasing-taxes.html

President Barack Obama today will outline a path to cutting the nation’s long-term debt through reductions in entitlement spending and tax increases while seeking to draw a sharp contrast with Republican proposals, according to a person familiar with the plan.

Obama’s approach will draw on the findings of the Simpson- Bowles debt commission chairmen who said tax increases had to accompany spending reductions, the person said. The president also will try to align his approach with the so-called Gang of Six, a group of three Republican and three Democratic senators working on their own fiscal recommendations.

The administration is aiming to provide a counterpoint to the budget plan released last week by Representative Paul Ryan, which relies on deep cuts in federal spending to trim the deficit. Obama will specifically reject Wisconsin Republican’s idea of a voucher-like system for future Medicare recipients, the person said.

(snip)
Carney called Ryan’s plan “imbalanced” because it relies heavily on deep cuts in Medicare and Medicaid that would place “all of the burden” on middle-income Americans, the elderly and the disabled.

[FrenchieCat]

1. Doesn't sound like a cut in benefits to me.....

from same article...."the Health and Human Services Department expand accountable care organizations that reward doctors based on performance as quickly as possible and use a new payment formula for physicians."