Democrats’ Imbalance on Spending Cuts

Entitlements are unquestionably driving our long-term deficits. The latest monthly deficit numbers prior to the fiscal cliff confirm spending is the problem -- America is on its way to a fifth straight year of trillion dollar deficits. But Democrats have taken off the table even the spending cuts President Obama previously supported. These include modernizing our major entitlement programs: Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

Spending Continues to Increase

Adjusted for timing shifts, spending in the first two months of fiscal year 2013 is $22 billion (or four percent) higher than last year. Spending on major entitlement programs is growing even faster.

Without reform, these programs will continue to drive up our deficits and debt. Total outlays for fiscal year 2013 (through November) are $638 billion. Of that amount, the three programs above account for $275 billion (or 43 percent). Refusing to even consider these programs as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations is irresponsible.

Democrats Lose Balance

Just last year, the White House was willing to engage in meaningful entitlement reform proposals. As outlined in Bob Woodward’s book The Price of Politics:

1. June 29, 2011: “… the White House … began putting a formal offer on paper. The starting point was raising the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 67.”
2. July 6, 2011: “Lew said the administration would consider the CPI change, but any other changes to Social Security would need to be balanced with an increase in payroll taxes.”
3. July 15, 2011: Answering a question on means testing at a press conference, President Obama indicated he is open to the concept of means testing on Medicare: “You can envision a situation where for somebody in my position, me having to pay a little bit more on premiums or co-pays or things like that would be appropriate.”
4. June 2011:“We might as well [reform the Medicaid Provider Tax], [Vice President Biden] said. The administrationwould adopt the Republican view on this.”

Today, Democrats oppose the reforms that the White House supported last summer.

1. December 5, 2012: “Pelosi: Dems must say No to raising Medicare eligibility age” (Washington Post)
2. December 4, 2012: “Many Democrats have rejected the chained CPI for Social Security because it would reduce the cost-of-living increases under the popular seniors’ program.” (The Hill)
3. December 3, 2012: “And [Sen. Tom] Harkin said ‘absolutely not’ when asked if he could be open to means testing for Medicare beneficiaries.” (Politico)
4. December 12, 2012:“On Monday, the Obama administration quietly reversed its support for a policy that would cut billions in Medicaid funding.” (Washington Post)

The imbalance in the Democrats’ position on spending lacks credibility. They continue to reject modest spending reforms. As the Washington Post noted, if Democrats do not engage on entitlements, they have no standing to criticize Republicans on balance.